


made of an experience and love

by ImJustPassingThrough



Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series), Buzzfeed: Worth It (Web Series), The Try Guys (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Steven Universe Fusion, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angst, Bad Fight Scene, Chains, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Fist Fights, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Fusions, Happy Ending, Immortality, Implied Sexual Content, Jealous Brent Bennett, Light Angst, Live For Years, M/M, Mild Blood, Not Shane/Ryan, One Sex Scene You Can Skip It, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Ryan Bergara, Protective Shane Madej, Ryan Bergara Loves Shane Madej, Saving the World, Shane Madej Loves Ryan Bergara, Song: Love Like You, Song: Stronger Than You, Summon Weapons, Swearing, They Argue To Hide Love, They Can Fuse, Unhealthy Relationships, Villain Andrew Ilnyckyj, Villain Steven Lim, Wheeze (Buzzfeed Unsolved), i guess, kind of but not, terrible fight scenes, they never really hated each other, villain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 05:00:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 54,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28879857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImJustPassingThrough/pseuds/ImJustPassingThrough
Summary: In a world where certain people have the ability to summon weapons, and to fuse with each other; Shane and Ryan must figure out who's trying to destroy all of humanity, all the while they hate each other... But, did they ever hate each other?Or;Go ahead and try to hit me if you're ableCan't you see that my relationship is stable?I can see you hate the way we intermingleBut I think you're just mad 'cause you're evil
Relationships: Andrew Ilnyckyj/Steven Lim, Brent Bennett/Ryan Bergara, Ryan Bergara/Shane Madej, Sara Rubin/Marielle Scott, Zach Kornfeld/Eugene Lee Yang
Comments: 14
Kudos: 18





	1. o brawling love! o loving hate!

**Author's Note:**

> Can't lie, this is totally Steven Universe inspired. I've not watched it since it finished, and even then, there was so much to remember, that I just started watching it appreciating how it wasn't like 'Oh yeah, it's a baby thing', and it was more 'Look at this, it has actually good, and thoughtful content'.
> 
> Also, I support Shane and Sara's relationship, Ryan and Marielle's relationship, Andrew and his girlfriend's relationship, and Steven and Ying Lin (I think her name is) relationship. I also respect Brent's relationship, and The Try Guys relationships. In fact, I love their real relationship and friendship more then the shipping. (Which feels weird to say 'shipping', I always saw this as a fun outlet.) I'm literally just doing this for fun. Please, do not send this to any of the people mentioned, or to the people who work of them, this is all just fun for me, and to the people who gave this a read, and liked it.
> 
> I need to mention as well, while there aren't many chapters, they'll be long!

Low, wet growling filled the battlefield - the battlefield being a rather empty parking lot, and a now evacuated mall - and there was also loud yelling and cursing, with grunting and banging. There was over a hundred large, black furred, wolf like dog creatures called Canis, that have large, sharp, yellow tinted canines, with sharp claws, and red piercing eyes. The Canis were attacking a group of people, known as the Inenarratus, and the Inenarratus are a group of heroes who have been in around for thousands of years, protecting the world and humanity from danger. They were of different genders, ethnicity's, religions, and of different sexual orientation, and all of the people in the Inenarratus' are good friends, well, more or less.

Ryan Bergara, a raven haired male, was on the right of the 'battlefield', more near the mall. He was punching the Canis, watching them poof away in a cloud of black smoke, his red, thick gauntlets flying through the creatures, jumping back from Canis' sharp claws, flipping back and dodging the attacks. He slid under a claw that was slashing at him, and stopped another claw attack coming at him, and he punched the creature, it turning into swirling smoke.

Shane Madej was on the left of the 'battlefield', more towards the middle of the car park. He was riding on the back of a Canis, gripping onto the thick black fir, riding the harsh, thrashing creature, and punching any that got near him, watching them poof away, thanks to his golden brass knuckles that has large spikes on them. He slashed at them, and punched them, watching as they poof away in black smoke. The Canis that he was riding struggled, and began to buck its back. Shane desperately held on, clenching his hands on the fur, but it successfully threw him off harshly.

Shane landed on his back harshly, and began scooting back, getting overwhelmed by the creatures, no longer having the high ground in the fight. He punched a few Canis that snapped at him, backing up. He dodged an attack, by rolling out of the way, but bumped into the one person he didn't want to see, "Bergara!"

Ryan looked to him in shock, being jolted slightly due to the man bumping him, and glared, "Madej."

Jaws, and sharp teeth clamped at Ryan, and he backed up into Shane's back, and Shane punched one of the Canis that came close to him, backed up into Ryan's back, the two now, regretfully back to back, then focused on their own sides of the fight.

"You should watch where you're going!" Snapped Shane, punching another Canis, annoyed and trying to find a way to get away from Ryan.

Ryan grabbed one of the claws that slashed at him, and held it back, raising his other fist, and punching, watching them turn to make smoky smog, then he turned to face Shane, " _me?!_ It's not my fault! If anything, you need to focus on your fighting!"

Shane turned, Canis on his side almost forgotten, more annoyed at Ryan, and glared, "me?!" The two ducked an oncoming attack from sharp jaws, barely breaking eye contact, as if this arguing on a 'battlefield' in the middle of life or death situation was an everyday, regular Monday occurrence.

Turning away from Shane, Ryan threw a couple of punches, as if remembering the creatures, and he watched three Canis' poof and turn to smoke, "you're the one who bumped into me!" Ryan snapped, Shane getting on his last nerves rather fast.

Shane scoffed, rolling his eyes, "well, maybe if you wasn't in my way, then I wouldn't have _bumped into you_!" He finished the sentence in a mocking tone, his voice poorly mimicking Ryan's 'narrator voice' as Shane calls it, slashing the brace spikes at the Canis, watching it turn into smoke.

"Well, like I said! If you focus on fighting you wouldn't have bumped into me!" Yelled Ryan, pressing himself into Shane's back, the claw of the creatures just missing his chest, and he swallowed harshly .

Shane leaned forward due to Ryan pressing into him, and pushed back, glaring, and turned to him, "watch it!"

"It's either I back into you, or it kills me!" Ryan reasoned, arms out in anger, palms up as if to, _what do you want me to do?!_

Shane sighed, and rubbed the bridge of his nose, pinching the skin with his index and thumb, hating that Ryan made a very good point. He didn't want Ryan to die, no matter how much they didn't like each other. "Well, I don't want you to die... But, you could just be more careful!"

Ryan glared at Shane, but then his eyes subconsciously trailing behind Shane, and his eyes widened in horror. He suddenly tackled Shane down, the two missing claw slashing at them. A paw came down to stamp on them, and Ryan turned, still on top of Shane, and gripped its paw, keeping it from stamping on them. Ryan glared at Shane who was under him, "a little help!" He grunted out, teeth clenched together, almost painfully.

Shane rolled his eyes, glancing to Ryan's straining, and sweat gathering muscles, "all those muscles, and you still can't fend off a paw." But, he saw Ryan's arms shake, weakening, and so, eyes wide in panic, helped hold the paw up, and— wow, yeah, the paw is really pushing all his weight down, how the hell did Ryan hold this up for that long? More and more Canis' stalked forward, licking their teeth with green, slimy tongues, closing in on them.

"This is all your fault." Ryan grunted, loosing strength as he shuffled, barely missed sharp, snapping teeth form his left side. He panted, sweat gathering, and beading from his hairline, down his forehead, and down his cheek.

Shane gulped, swallowing thick saliva, "fuck." He hated when he and Ryan began loosing a fight, they're not _always_ this bad, but when they began to fight and argue, (which okay, is a lot), they start loosing. It's one of the main reasons people didn't pair them up often, just because when they fight each other on the 'battlefield' they can usually multitask arguing and fighting fairly well, doesn't mean it should be allowed, and it's not. A claw swiped at them, and Shane rolled them, limbs sprawling awkwardly, throwing the paw off, "shit!" The two scooted back, legs still flailing slightly.

"Damn it, Shane!" Ryan panted, arms shaking and muscles sore.

"It's not all my fault!" Snapped Shane, groaning, "this is your fault for arguing with me!" He rubbed his shoulder.

Ryan's eyes narrowed more into tiny slits, "well, you bumped into me!" He punched one of the Canis on the snout when it got too close to him, the two were now surrounded, the creatures closing in on them more, making Shane and Ryan back up into each other unknowingly, avoiding the Canis'.

"Not like I meant to!" Yelled Shane, angrily and teeth bared, now more focused on winning the argument with Ryan.

Ryan scoffed, rolling his eyes, "I think you fuckin' did!"

"I did not!" Snapped Shane, a harsh scowl on his face.

"You did!"

The two were now more focused on winning the argument of if Shane bumped into Ryan on purpose, and who was a fault for their loss on the 'battlefield', which must be pointed out, is still going in, the two now fully surrounded, with no where to go. But, as said, they were more focused on fighting each other rather then the Canis.

This would be their death, had it not been for a yo-yo like weapon whacking Canis', and thrashing them with a loud noise that sounded like a whip hitting the air. A tall woman with tightly curled, short hair, rushed over, the ground thundering and shaking ever so slightly, the giant woman was in a blue one piece suit, with a pink latex, flowery skirt attached at the waist, and pink, finger-less gloves, four arms and two eyes each one a different colour, her name is Mara. She whacked, and swung the yo-yo like weapon the string blue, and the circular yo-yo part pink, hitting the Canis, turning them to smoke. She wrapped the yo-yo around the creatures, and pulled, squeezing them, and any that she didn't poof and smoke away, she chased the creatures away from Shane and Ryan. She permanently got rid of most of the Canis that scattered the 'battlefield', turning most to smoke, and when the creatures began to realise they were loosing suddenly, and they ran and fled, almost as if someone had told them.

Mara wasn't focused at the Canis anymore, and she sneered, and walked over to Shane and Ryan. Steven ran over suddenly, panting, in loose baggy shorts, and no shirt, "jeez, leave some for us Mara!" He let out a panting laugh.

Andrew followed in a grey one piece, walking unlike Steven, he too panting, "good job, Mara!" He smiled.

Mara held up a hand to the two, and kept glaring at Shane and Ryan, more focused on the, "give me a second..." Her voice was deep, and slightly posh, and sounded fairy like still. She began to glow a pink and blue swirling mixture, before suddenly, Mara was no longer there. In place was two women, one one with short, loose curled hair, in a pink flowery, latex dress, and pink gloves and no shoes, dazed and head swirling in shock, and the other is a woman with a tightly curled, long hair, in a blue one piece, angry and annoyed.

The woman in pink stood, swaying, and took his girlfriends hand gently, seeing how angry she was getting, "Marielle..."

Marielle snatched her hand anyway, angry and harshly, but didn't mean any anger towards the shorter woman, "Sara, I'm gonna kill 'em!" She stormed over to Shane and Ryan.

Shane and Ryan were still yelling at each other, blaming each other. "We nearly died thanks to you!" Shane yelled, and Ryan laughed sarcastically, "you're the bastard who bumped into me!" The two were now fighting each other, unknown that the battle between the Inenarratus and Canis was over, and unknown that the Inenarratus had won. They were more focused on each other, Shane more focused on holding Ryan down by his shoulders, and upper arms, Ryan more focused on throwing Shane off, the two trying to pin each other down, their weapons gone from their hands, and knuckles.

Marielle threw her whip into the air, watching it disappear in a flash of blue, and pulled Shane and Ryan away from each other by their hair, and dropped them down harshly, pushing them away from each other by their chests, "you two are the worst heroes I've ever met!" Marielle yelled, glaring at the two, standing in between them. Shane and Ryan tensed in shock, staring at her wide eyed, then looked around, noticing the battle was over and won. "You two will put us all in danger!"

Shane's eyes widened more at the accusation, and pointed to Ryan with his index finger, "this is Ryan's fault, not mine!"

Ryan scoffed, hands clenched, and his arms down at his sides, and rolled his eyes, "you mean, your fault! You bumped into me!"

"Well, you got in my way!" Shane yelled, arms out in anger and frustration, annoyed and angry.

"Quiet!" Yelled Marielle, her voice being carried by the cold wind, and echoing the now quiet 'battlefield', and Shane and Ryan jumped back, eyes wide in horror and shock. "Go change, and figure out whose side your on!" She glared, tone demanding, and she stormed off, pushing between the two in anger, not noticing them stumbled back.

Shane and Ryan stared after her, eyes sad, and watching her leave, allowing their shoulders to slowly slouch. Sara frowned, and ran between them, turning her shield counter clock wise, her weapon disappearing. She turned back around to Shane and Ryan, and glared, "thanks a lot, dicks." She ran off after Marielle, "Mari, babe! Wait!"

Shane and Ryan looked down, sighing, guilt filling their veins and eating them up, and they then glared at each other angrily, silently pinning the blame on the other still. Looking away, Shane scoffed, and walked off, hands clenched, and Ryan scowled walking away in the opposite direction of Shane, hands in pockets.

Steven moved over to Andrew, and wrapped an arm around Andrew's waist, fingers digging into the taller mans pale skin. They shared a look, Andrew tense, and Steven cold, then they walked off after Marielle and Sara to check on them.

~~~~~

Ryan pulled off his uniform with a harsh puff of air, now back at Inenarratus Headquarters. He hung up his clothes, and sighed, dragging his hand down them. He looked to his loose, baggy, black combat pants, that has an abundance of empty pockets, besides a few knives he kept in them, but never used. He couldn't really use knives, and he preferred to punch his way through his problems. He hung up his sleeveless, black vest, best described as the vest from _Star Trek_ worn by _Picard_ , or even _Black*Star_ from _Soul Eater_ , and pushed his black combat boots in his closet. He pulled off the black bandanna from around his forehead, ruffling up his black, raven hair, and he set the fabric down on his bedside table.

He looked into his mirror, and checked over his face to make sure he didn't have many injuries, and if he did, he could take care of it. He rolled his aching shoulder muscles, and looked down. These creatures are common, they've been around, and genetically created, for one-thousand years, these creature were created by the 'bad guys'. The reason for the childish term 'bad guys' or even 'villains', is because they're unknown, nobody has ever seen them. Ryan comes up with theories, one's he's not sure about. All that is certain is, these 'bad guys' want to destroy humanity, they want to destroy the 'imperfect' people of the world, the ones who have no powers. The people with powers are perfect.

Ryan sighed, and rubbed his tired eyes, seeing as he had no serious injuries, just seeing faded, barely there injuries that he could deal with. He ran his hand down to his shoulder, and then his arm, pausing, is fingers brushing against a fade bruised, large hand print left behind by Shane when they were arguing and fighting on the floor. Quiet a grip, Shane has.

_Shane, Shane, Shane!_ Ryan shook his head with an angry groan, running a hand through his soft, yet ruffled hair, mind and thoughts on Shane Madej, swirling around his head. _Shane fucking Alexander Madej_ , the most annoying, rage inducing, stubborn and argumentative man, he has ever met! They constantly argued. They argued about Ryan's belief in ghosts and Shane's sceptic nature, they argue about the fucking Hot Daga, for fuck sake! The Hot Daga is a small show Shane does to piss Ryan off every Friday. Yet, Ryan regrets to admit, he finds it enduring.

In retaliation to Shane mocking him for believing in ghosts, Ryan gives Shane theories about the most ridiculous theories, such as Atlantis being an underwater Area 51, I mean that's just stupid! Then there's that stupid theory about lizard people and underwater Nazis. An another was the Bermuda Triangle actually being two Isosceles Triangles forming a rhombus. Every stupid and absurd theory was said, and created, just to piss Shane off, and it worked like a treat!

Ryan hates, and it must be emphasised, _hates_ , how he actually finds Shane cute. He shivered, _I still hate admitting that._ Shane is cute, he's very attractive, with what looked like soft hair, and sloth like eyes, and pale, smooth looking skin, with those long legs of his, he was lovely. He even has to regretfully admit, that Shane's insults are creative and funny. Hell, everyone always says he and Shane bounce off of each other really well on the rare occasion that Shane and Ryan got along. Their conversations sounded playful, like fun and friendly banter, almost a strange way of flirting with each other, all in good nature, and it would have been, had it not been for the genuine malice in their tones, and hate filled glares... Was it genuine malice, and hatred though?

Maybe, he hopes that Shane doesn't actually hate him. He wished Shane didn't hate him. He's had a liking for Shane Madej for years, a crush, helplessly pinning after the man he couldn't have. Shane didn't like him, and so he argued back. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, he can't believe that he's been pinning after Shane Madej for seven-thousand-and-eight-hundred years and nine months. Yeah, seven-thousand-and-eight-hundred years and nine months. That's a long fucking time. He knows.

He hates how he doesn't hate Shane, and actually likes Shane.

Slowly, Ryan pulled on some casual, everyday clothes. A work out, loose, sleeveless vest, and loose, work out, grey shorts, and fell onto his singular bed. His room was rather bare, filled with gym equipment, there was a bedside table, a bathroom, and he has a closet, and a television. There's a lamp on his bedside table, with loads of beige files, and grey curtains, with a window that couldn't even open.

He lay on his back, staring at his cracked ceiling, and stretched his limbs out, hearing them crack, and snap, popping satisfyingly, and it relaxed him.

A loud, echoing beep surrounded the building, the intercom switching on, and a voice began talking, _"Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej, please come to Mr. Lim's office. Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej, please come to Mr. Lim's office."_ The voice at the end of the sentence sounding like a whiny, stroppy, teenage brat that obnoxiously chewed bubblegum, thinking it was still a trendy, cool thing to do.

Ryan frowned, _what does Steven want already?_

~~~~~

Shane glared, harshly, practically ripping and pulling off his uniform. He harshly hung up his white muscle shirt, with holes on the sleeves for his thumbs to go through, and the collar covers his neck, almost like a turtle neck, then hung up his baggy, black combat shorts that have no pockets, and pushed his white combat boots in his closet. He pulled off his white bandanna and set it down the table with a frustrated slam.

"Fucking, dicks..." Shane grumbled, thinking of the Canis, thinking of the 'bad guys'. "Set of cocks, nearly killing me... A thousand years of this bullshit..." He hates that he and Ryan fight each other, and in turn looses another battle. It was the main reason nobody teamed them up. The villains were winning so far, and the heroes were loosing, more so when he and Ryan were together. _Dumb fucking, cock, twat bastards nearly killing me. Nearly killing Ryan!_ His hands were clenched, and he hissed in pain. He looked down, seeing his knuckles split, bleeding.

Shane sighed annoyed _damn it_ , he went to the bathroom, and began washing his hands, hissing in pain from the cold water hitting the freshly split knuckles, watching as his dried blood swirled and mixed with the cold tap water. He looked in the mirror, eyes tired, _Ryan fucking Steven goddamn Bergara..._ He cursed in his head. Ryan was the worst person to have met, a believer of all things supernatural (besides witchcraft - thank God!), a complete and utter coward, and managed to piss and rile Shane up with anger and frustration like it was no ones business. God, Ryan is annoying! They argued about the credibility, about the goddamn spirit box that hurt Shane's poor ears, and they argued about The Hot Daga. I mean, how _dare_ Ryan mock The Hot Daga?! It was a literary masterpiece! The best tale of love and betrayal, with everyone's favourite french fries _Gene_. At first he was writing and 'producing' The Hot Daga for fun, and something to do, but then when he realised Ryan hated it, he began to make it to anger the smaller man. It was also a form of retaliation, making The Hot Daga more and more annoying, and rage inducing, with each stupid and dumb theory Ryan gave him.

Yet, he finds the shorter man's stupid theories enduring. And that angers him more then Ryan being a dick. He hates just how cute, and sexy Ryan is, and dear God, his arms! His gorgeously tanned arms, that bulged from his shirts, and clung to his skin. Then there was his smile that lit up the darkest situation with white, pearly teeth, with this incredible laugh, and warm soft eyes, with even softer looking hair. He looked like your stereotypical jock, but the exact opposite of a jock, when he wasn't being a wimp, and dick that argued with him.

For years, everyone always told him, that if he and Ryan didn't hate each other, they would make good friends, apparently it was proven when the two got along on those rare occasions, maybe even a great couple with apparently how well the two bounced off one and another, feeding each other jokes and playfully insulting each other, which were rather creative and funny on Ryan's side. And Shane, regretfully, agrees. He wishes they were friends, but the amount of vicious venom that dripped from their voice when through insults were enough to make a person's skin crawl like acid burning flesh.

But, still, he wishes they were friends. He's wished they were something different thought for years. He's very much liked Ryan, found him attractive and funny, and he's pining after the you hero for years. Sara says their fighting is some kind of fucked up pigtail pulling, but it's not. Ryan hates him, and he's liked, more specifically, loved, Ryan for about seven-thousand-and-eight-hundred years, give or take, unsure of the exact number.

He gently pulled on a blue, flannel like, button up, and jeans before sitting on his white bed, back pressed against the wooden headboard of his small singular bed, that didn't fit him on, his feet dangling over the edge each night. It was a small room, with he bare essentials, a closet, television, bathroom, beside table, but he had a few movies, a popcorn machine, and a few cat toys, a cat bowl, and a cat bed, and climbing frame. Why all the cat stuff? He has a son called Obi, and Obi is stuck inside a cats body, but Obi (or Obiman), is the son of God and deserves only the best. He shuffled down, lying on his back, hand on his stomach.

Speak of the son of God, and he shall come, Obi jumped onto Shane's chest, and Shane immediately began to pet his cat softly, and scratched behind his cats ear, and Obi nuzzled into Shane's hand, calming down and relaxing on his owners chest.

A loud, echoing beep surrounded the building, the intercom switching on, and a voice began talking, _"Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej, please come to Mr. Lim's office. Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej, please come to Mr. Lim's office."_ The voice at the end of the sentence trailing off, like a teenager thinking they were doing something better, or had more important things to do rather then listen to the parents.

Shane frowned, _what does Steven want?_ And, it seemed Obi thought the same thing as he looked to Shane with wide confused, and Shane just shrugged in response.

~~~~~

Sitting awkwardly, a seat away from each other in Steven Lim's large office, Shane and Ryan kept awkwardly glancing to each other, and anytime soft, wide brown eyes met sloth like, light brown eyes, the two would glare at each other, and then look away from each other with a snap of the head, awkwardly. The office was large, and very bright, well lit with lights, and a large, very real, and very green plant near the large, open window with the sun shining though. There was an oak book shelf, filled with fantasy books such as _Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe._ There was also a white filing cabinet, a television, and there was a few pictures of the 'bosses' - Steven and Andrew - around the office in all sorts of romantic positions. There was two desks in the office, the main desk was white, and weirdly shaped, almost like a paint splatter, with files, a book and a notebook, and a few reports, a pencil cup with pens and pencils, with a few highlighters thrown in, and of course, a computer. The other desk was smaller, and more stereotypical and basic, made out of wood and square like, with a laptop, and files, stacked up high like some form of castle.

Ryan looked to Shane again, awkward and tense, and looked forward to the desk in front of him, "Long Legs."

"Little Guy." Shane greeted, looking forward, crossing a leg over the other, and Ryan had to fight back the urge to yell at Shane. He's not short! He's average!

The two were sitting in front of the main, paint splatter shaped desk, and behind the main desk was Steven Lim, now in a white button up, black pants, a black tie, and a blazer, more business like then fighting attire, his hands clasped together in front of him. And, behind the smaller desk a little away was Andrew Ilnyckyj, in a white button up, and grey pants, typing away on his computer.

"It's nice to see you, Shane, Ryan." Smiled Steven, hands clasped together, placed on the desk, his head nodding slightly, as if mentally checking off what he wanted to talk to the two about today.

"Hey Steven." Shane greeted awkwardly, thinking about how he'd rather be petting Obi, eating popcorn and watching a horror movie, like _Scream_ , or _Nightmare on Elm Street._

Ryan nodded tense, "Mr. Lim." He sighed, and rubbed his hands together, he would give anything to watch _Ghost Hunters,_ or re-watch _The X-Files_ again, for the millionth time.

Steven coughed, clearing his throat, and nudged a pen near his file with an index finger, "alright, let's get down to why I called you both here. So, as you know these villains—"

"Fancy Boys..." Shane and Ryan cut in, together in unison. They looked to each other, and flushed. If Ryan was honest, he didn't think Shane listened to him when he was rambling on about his theory about the 'bad guys', and Shane hated the fact that he was just found out about listening to Ryan's mad ramblings.

Steven blinked, and sat straighter, and Andrew paused in his typing, the quiet _tap tap taps_ coming to an abrupt stop. Shane and Ryan looked from each other to Steven and Andrew confused, noticing their 'bosses' were both staring at them tense and shock. Steven blinked again, and shook his head, as if trying to rid his confusion, and failing, "what?"

"Well, Ryan came up with the theory." Shane said, patting Ryan's back, almost as if he was proud of Ryan.

Ryan smiled, and rubbed the back of his neck, and nodded, "it was just, well, the creatures are all well kept, neat and tidy—"

"You could almost say," Shane held his hands up, grinning with a jazz hand motion, " _fancy._ "

Ryan laughed, a slight wheeze escaping past his lips, a bright smile on his face, "yeah, Shane came up with the name for them, and I believe they like 'fancy' things." He said, bending his index and middle fingers when he said _fancy._

Steven shook his head, frowning, hand out in a _wait a moment_ motion, and Shane and Ryan paused, "boys? As in, _plural_. How? How did you come to the conclusion there's more then one."

"Well, the way people have been killed, and buildings that's been destroyed is by three different ways," Ryan explained, holding up three fingers. "Bashed, stabbed or slashed, or crushed..."

Steven paused, and nodded, eyes blank, and index finger on his lips, deep in thought, and Andrew waited to see Steven's response. Steven looked up to Shane and Ryan, "well then, that's great! You two are more than perfect for the job!" He scooted to the filing cabinet on his office chair, and opened it. He flipped through the files, squinting as he glanced over the labels, and pulled out a file, he moved back to the desk, and held out the beige file, "a mission for you both."

Shane looked to Ryan, as if to say, _files are your thing_. Ryan nodded, that was very true, files are his thing, he likes to be organised, and so he reached out, and took the file, "thank you..." He glanced over the file, barely reading any of it, "I'll take Marielle Scott..."

"And I'll take Sara Rubin." Shane nodded, not even glancing over the mission report, more focused on his nails.

Steven laughed nervously, almost regretfully, his eyes friendly, and joyful though, "uh, no. No, no, no." He shrugged, almost helplessly, "you two are going on the mission, together. Sara and Marielle are going on a different mission together, I'm afraid."

Shane's eyes widened, and he sat straighter, throwing his leg down. That means he and Ryan finally get to spend more time together, which in an alternate universe would be perfect! But, in the universe he's in now, he and Ryan hate each other, and they'd ruin the entire mission, "how about Eugene Yang?" Steven shook his head, wincing. Shane swallowed, "Zach Kornfeld?!" Steven took a sharp intake of air through his teeth, regretfully.

"How about Keith Habersberger?" Ryan asked, moving forward on the edge of his seat, dropping the file on the desk, Steven sighed, ignoring the file as he shook his head side to side. Ryan ran a hand through his hair, eyes wide, "Ned Fulmer!" But, really, who would want to be on a mission with Ned as he gushed about his wife and kids? People knew more about his wife and kids, then they did about Ned Fulmer.

Steven raised his hands in a shrugging, regretful motions, palms up, as if to say, _what can you do?_ "I'm sorry, but they're all on missions. The Try Guys are off together, and so are The Girls, you two are perfect for this mission."

"How?" Shane asked, confused, and defeated, slouching in his chair, "we hate each other, in case you suddenly forgot!"

"How much expensive wine have you two been drinking?!" Ryan asked, eyes wide and hands clenched.

Steven sighed, smile falling ever so slightly, "Ryan, please—"

"Shane and I have hated each other since the day we met!" Ryan yelled, and Shane sighed, looking down. Of course Ryan hated him the moment they met, it makes sense.

Smiling widely again, ignoring Ryan's comments, Steven chuckled as if this all humoured him, like it was some kind of inside joke, "well, maybe this will help you two get along?" He slid the file back to Shane and Ryan, still smiling, now sickly sweet almost.

Ryan, left with no choice and in a state of shock, slowly took the file and slowly stood, as did Shane, who for the first time believed in Satan and Hell, because if God was real he wouldn't be torturing Shane like this, he's clearly pissed the big guy off. Shane and Ryan walked out the office, like a plastic bang being blown in the wind, they were taken out of the office by Andrew, the two a shell of themselves, as if the life was sucked out of them viciously.

Andrew smiled at them, all nice and friendly, yet having some form of uneasiness and shut off from everything, "good luck you two, hope everything goes well and you—"

"Oh, Andrew!" Steven sang from inside the office, voice joyful, and Andrew jumped, glancing behind him. He looked to Shane and Ryan, and smiled, before entering his and Steven's office, closing the door.

Shane and Ryan stared at the now shut door, staring at the golden plaque on front saying _STEVEN LIM_. They slowly looked to each other tense, and unsure, Ryan's grip tightening around the mission file, swallowing. How was this going to work when they didn't like each other? They've never liked each other, right?

~~~~~

_Shane was just starting out at Inenarratus, he was shaking and felt his stomach churning, his nerves high, nervous, the only person he knew was Sara Rubin. She was the one who approached him a few months ago, offering a job for his abilities and of course he took it, initially excited. He's here now, isn't he? And, now he's worried._

_"The initiation will make you feel weird for a few days, but it'll ware off," Sara warned. She was leading him down the hall, and up a few stairs to the offices._

_"Initiation?" Shane asked, quietly, hands in pockets to help make himself smaller, and a form of protection, as if it was less for people to attack and see._

_"Yeah, to live for years, and become an official hero, getting rid of illnesses, and such, but they can't get rid of everything. You can still very much die and get hurt." Sara explained, "you can only die from getting hurt, you can't die from illnesses for example." She then pointed to a room, "there's the staff lunch room, if you don't wish to go to your dorm room."_

_"There are dorm rooms?" Shane asked, quietly, feeling as if he was asking too many questions. Really, he should just shut up, he's probably annoying her._

_Sara nodded with a smile, leading him to the desk jobs, "of course! Your living arrangements are all sorted. Your needed on hand with this job, it's not exactly ideal if you're needed, and you're twenty, thirty minutes away." She shrugged, as if it made sense. And it did make sense, it just threw him off._

_A man with curly black hair, pulled up into a bun, and tanned skin rushed over, "oh! New guy, huh?" He sounded nice, and joyful, and incredibly friendly._

_"Hey Curly," Sara smiled, "this is Shane, Shane this is Curly." She answered, gesturing to Shane then Curly with her hand._

_Curly grinned, and winked leaning closer to Shane, "nice to meet you, Shane."_

_Shane flushed, what this guy flirting with him? He smiled shyly, and rubbed the back of his neck, "h-hi..."_

_"Shane, baby doll, it's so good to meet you—"_

_A man walked over, slightly stiff, but overall nice, "Curly, leave the poor guy alone." He looked to Shane, and held out a hand, "hi, I'm Brent."_

_Shane took the hand and shook it, "Shane..."_

_"Curly and I work at the desk jobs, before that, I would do a few low end missions." Brent said, smiling slightly, shrugging, but looking closer, it was a small frown on his face, almost like he was feeling empty, like he was missing apart of himself._

_Sara nodded, and smiled, "new people do a few low missions, but mainly work a desk job to ease people into this life. Brent and—"_

_"Don't..." Brent cut in, blank and tense. He looked down, "I-I... I have work to do..." He rushed off, head down, tense._

_Curly sighed, wrapping an arm around Shane's shoulder, "Brent and his previous partner were good friends, in fact, Brent likes he guy, has a small crush on him." Curly shook his head, "but they weren't good for each other, it dampened their friendship, and it broke Brent as he believes that they won't ever date now."_

_"Weren't good for each other?" Shane asked, frowning in confusion. He thought this was a hero job, why would they let bad people into the place? Or keep bad people? Unless, it wasn't known, but it was if Curly and Sara knew._

_Sara patted Shane's upper arm, "don't worry about it. They're both good people, but there's a lot you have to learn about." Sara sighed, and moved him along, waving bye to Curly. "Come on, time for you to meet The Try Guys."_

_Shane snapped out of his thoughts, head looking up, not realising they were moving again, "who?"_

_"The Try Guys, they're a group of friends who try things, such as weapons, dangerous missions, they're the ones who are up for experimenting on themselves." Sara explained, smiling, and held her hand out to desks, with four men around, There's a short, ginger guy with a beard, a tall man with a large megawatt smile, another tall man who was the epitome of perfect, and a short skinny man who wore glasses._

_Sara took Shane over, "hey guys!" The four looked up, and smiled, looking at Shane in confusion._

_"Hi Sara! Who's this?" The tall, smiley man asked, looking from Sara to Shane._

_"This is Shane, the new guy." Sara grinned, and began to point out each Try Guy, first the ginger man, "this is Ned."_

_Ned smiled, and immediately held out a hand, which Shane shook, "hi!"_

_"I'm Keith!" Keith introduced himself, also shaking Shane's hand, and it took Shane aback, thrown off by Keith's friendliness, and abrupt personality._

_"And that's Eugene." Sara continued, once Keith was sat down again, and she pointed to the attractive man._

_Eugene nodded, and was leaning closer to the shorter man slightly, his long legs brushing against the skinny mans legs, but that was as far as the greeting went. Shane couldn't lie he felt intimidated, and he swallowed, shuffling from foot to foot, tense._

_The shorter man nudged Eugene's legs as if to say,_ that's rude. _He looked to Shane, and smiled, "I'm Zach, spelt with an 'h'." He chuckled._

_"Nice to meet you." Shane smiled, shyly, desperately trying to make himself smaller under Eugene's cool gaze, and was failing miserably. Damn him for being so incredibly tall!_

_"Have you met Marielle yet?" Ned asked, looking to Shane, twirling a pencil between his fingers. Suddenly his face turned soft and dreamy, "oh, how about Ariel?"_

_Everyone, besides Shane, groaned, and Shane frowned confused, he's not met this 'Ariel' woman yet. Ned threw his hands up in shock, as if he had no idea why people were groaning, and his face was still blissfully happy, "what?!"_

_Keith sighed, and shook his head in fake despair, "we get it, you have huge crush on Ariel!" Though he was only teasing, as he wore that friendly smile on his face._

_"You're just jealous I'm actually talking to Ariel, and all you can do is stare at Becky from the coffee maker!" Ned teased back, laughing as he playfully shoved Keith's shoulder, relaxing back into the chair._

_Eugene shook his head, putting his hands up in a surrender movement, "straight people problems, not my issue." He then looked down to his weird tapping thing that Shane didn't know the name of, and went back to work._

_Zach laughed lightly, his arm brushing against Eugene's, "tell me about it."_

_Sara smiled, and shook her head, and then looked to Shane, her eyes soft and fond, "come on, I'll introduce you to my girlfriend!" She happily took Shane away, leaving behind the group of friends who playfully argued and teasing each other._

_There was a woman at a desk, writing something down on parchment paper, glaring at it as if she was deep in thought and annoyed at the thing, she was tall, tanned, with tight curly hair. She looked up, and instantly brightened, smiling happily, and pulled Sara down into a soft, and needy kiss instantly, and Sara kissed back, smiling and giggling. Pulling back, but still holding the woman, Sara looked up to Shane, "this is Marielle, my amazingly talented, and gorgeous girlfriend."_

_Shane nodded and smiled, "hi, I'm Shane."_

_Marielle smiled, "hello." She looked to Sara again, and kissed her cheek, "I missed you so much." She kissed Sara's other cheek, then her nose, her forehead, and began kissing all over her face, and Sara giggled, falling into Marielle's lap, wrapping her arms around Marielle's neck, happily excepting the face kisses, giggling more as she did._

_Shane stood there awkwardly, watching as Marielle and Sara nuzzled noses together in an eskimo kiss. He grimaced at the public dispaly of affection, and slid his hands into his pockets awkwardly._

_A man slid next to him suddenly, and looked at him sympathetically and apologetically, as if he this was a regular occurrence, and he leaned on a chair near him. "I see you've met Sara and Mari. Good place to be when you want to vomit." Shane bit his lip, holding back a smile. "Yeah, they're so cute, I wanna die," the man smiled, but it was painful, and he pulled his hands apart, and red gauntlets appeared over his hands, that seemed to be thicker at the knuckles to do damage, and he placed his knuckles to his temples, "literally."_

_Shane laughed, letting out a quiet wheeze as he covered his mouth, blushing a light pinkish hue on his cheeks, feeling like he embarrassed himself with his laugh, but he joined in with the teasing, finding himself relaxing with this very attractive man. He liked the mans muscles, his hair, his tanned skin and smile,_ if Eugene isthe epitome of perfect, then this guy is a God. _"Like you need help with that what with how gross they're being. Even so," he clenched his fists, and brass knuckles with spikes on appeared, "let me help!"_

_The man laughed, holding his stomach and watched as Shane laughed as well, cheeks slightly flushed red,_ holy fuck, he's gorgeous! _He finished he laughing off with a wheeze of his own, cheeks flushing in embarrassment, having not laughed like that for a while._

_Marielle pulled away from Sara, rolling her eyes at the men as if she was fed up with them, her hands still firmly placed on Sara's waist, "shut up, Ry Guy." Sara looked up, and glared at the two playfully, as she buried her head into the crook of Marielle's neck and shoulder, taking in her girlfriends scent of flowers and apples._

_Shane blushed a bright red, the same colour as a tomato, coating his cheek and nose, and opened his mouth to apologise, looking horrified and somewhat ashamed, but 'Ry' cut in, interrupting him before Shane could even speak. "I'll stop teasing you when you stop torturing me and the Big Guy." Shane slowly, and shyly smiled, he was already given a nickname?_

_"You two just met!" Sara said, hand out, gesturing between the two rolling her eyes, "you don't even know each other's names!"_

_"Sure I do!" Ry defended before he could even stop himself._

_"Oh yeah, what's his name?" Sara challenged, smirking, hands still clasped around Marielle's neck._

_Ry opened his mouth proudly, his chest out, but then paused, closing his mouth again, slouching, drawing a blank, as he let out an awkward, "uh..."_

_Shane chuckled, and covered his mouth. He looked to the man, and held out his hand with a smile, "Shane Madej."_

_"Ryan Bergara." 'Ryan' smiled back, and shook his hand, his gauntlet still on his hand._

_The first time meeting Ryan Bergara and Shane Madej - great! It seemed like there was a friendship destined from the start._

_Marielle smiled, "this is great, Ry! You have a new friend! You need one after you and Brent!" Ryan stopped smiling, and was now staring blankly at Marielle._

_Shane let out a noise of recognition, snapping his fingers, "oh! Brent! I just met him!" Wait, this was the guy that Brent was friends with? This is that guy that made everything so unhealthy? Well, his first impressions were severely wrong, and misplaced._

_"Yeah, Ryan and Brent were best friends. Odd, but best friends." Marielle explained with a smile, and Shane frowned in confusion, "see, Ryan believes in all things supernatural, and Brent is a sceptic. Ryan enjoys true crime, and Brent doesn't." She explained seeing Shane's confused face. "But, they're not really friends anymore. I don't thinks so, at least?" She began looking to Ryan, ignoring Sara's frantic tiny pats on her shoulder, Sara trying to stop her. "Brent and Ryan didn't have a good—" Marielle fell silent, cutting herself off, seeing Ryan glaring at her, blank and cold. He looked small, and slightly sick, as if some form of memorise came back, and haunted him._

_Shane saw the look that crossed Ryan's face, and while he now connected Ryan with how uneasy Brent was, he tried to make the situation less awkward, and let out a small laugh, "you believe in ghosts?"_

_Ryan looked over, relaxing, and his face was no longer cold and haunted, "yeah, and you don't I take it?" He asked, confused, an eyebrow raised._

_Shane shook his head, "no! I believe in science and facts. If ghosts existed, which they don't, then they would need to be made purely of energy, since by their very definition they can't be made of matter. But if they were made only of energy, they would quickly dissipate, because the second law of thermodynamics proposes that energy is always lost to heat." He smirked, shrugging. "'Ghosts', are just things in peoples imaginations, and drafts of wind that seeps in through windows."_

_Ryan tensed, getting slightly defensive, but didn't seem exactly angry, "yeah, but you don't know what's out there! There could be ghosts, demons," Shane laughed at that, "and aliens!" Ryan finished._

_Pointing at Ryan, Shane nodded, "I believe in aliens, but not in the way you're thinking, like grey heads and long fingers..."_

_Ryan groaned, and ran a hand down his face, he went to retaliate to defend his view, but then a happy, go lucky voice echoed through the building,_ "Shane Madej, please report to Holly Horsley's office! Shane Madej, please report to Holly Horsley's office!

_Sara smiled awkwardly seeing the two men looking to each other tense. She got off her girlfriends lap, and planted a soft kiss to Marielle's temple, and patted Shane on the back, breaking Ryan and Shane's cold gazes to each other, "come on Shane, let me take you to Horsley."_

~~~~~

Shane looked down at his brown shoes, and kicked the concrete, grey ground, shaking his head, ridding the memory of meeting Ryan for the first time. He coughed, and asked, "where are we going?"

"Las Vegas..." Ryan responded, voice quiet and distant, as if thinking as well.

Shane glanced up, seeing Ryan looked distant as well, "when?"

"Tomorrow, six thirty..." Ryan glanced through the file, and began to flip through the pages, and to the back page, seeing two plane tickets with a seat number, names, and destination, and time. He handed the ticket with Shane's name on to him. "Take that, and pack..." He looked up, "I'm gonna go talk with Brent..." Thinking of the first day he met Shane, made him think of Brent, and he missed Brent, having not really talked to the man for about a year. It was for the best, he knew that, but he still missed his friend.

Shane froze up at Ryan mentioning Brent, _right, Brent has a crush on Ryan as well as me... What happened between them? Nobody ever told me._ He shook his head, and forced himself to relax, "see you tomorrow, Little Guy..." Shane gripped his plane ticket and walked away to his room, looking down.

Ryan glared at the floor annoyed, staring at the dent, and mumbled to himself, "I'm five nine, and three quarters..." He walked off in the opposite direction, away from Shane, and to where he thought Brent was. Fuck, he needed his best friend back.

Shane and Ryan, walking to their destinations, had one thought on their mind, as they went to prepare tomorrows trip, and their mission, _how am I gonna survive this?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canis - Latin (google translate) - Dog  
> Inenarratus - Latin (google translate) - Unsolved
> 
> The best way to describe the vest Ryan wears is by Picard from Star Trek, or maybe even a better way to describe the vest is by another character form Soul Eater, and it's Black*Stars vest? I'm not sure. I don't usually watch anime or read manga, but I do really like Soul Eater, and you should give it a watch, and read. Soul Eater NOT isn't the best, but, you can still give it a watch if you want.
> 
> I used a quote from Romeo and Juliet as a title, because Romeo and Juliet have great quotes! I love the book too much!


	2. my, my, how can i resist you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Right so, this chapter is long, like... Longer then the first chapter. Oops, I just got really carried away! Okay, so... Right Chapter 1 is like 7,000 words, and I was like 'okay that's the minimum amount I want on each chapter, and then... This came along and WOW... I really have gone overboard with this chapter. So sorry, please don't expect as much in the future, please and thank you!

Orange and yellow sunlight seeped through the cracks of the curtains, with loud, obnoxious birds chirping away, as the alarm for Shane and Ryan to wake up that morning. The world around them was all happy, go lucky, bright and cheerful, while for the men, it was the beginning of their nightmare, their living Hell's for who-knows-how-long this mission will last. The morning for the two was slow and tiring. They shuffled around their rooms like mindless zombies, yawning and groaning, grabbing their suitcases which were overly stuffed with clothing and their uniforms, and shoes, in Ryan's suitcase, he had a few files neatly placed in, unlike his scrunched up clothes. They slowly walked out their rooms, and stalked down the stairs.

Sara, Marielle and Brent stood near the entrance to Inenarratus Headquarters to wave the two off, and winced as if in physical pain, hissing through clenched teeth seeing Shane and Ryan giving each other the tired, cold shoulder, Ryan looking at his phone, face lit up by an app, ordering an _Uber_ and Shane looking to the floor, at his rather large brown shoes, kicking the floor every so often, a squeak echoing the room.

Marielle wrapped an arm around Sara's waist, seeing the two walk closer, "alright you two, please don't kill each other." She begged, voice desperate and worried, gently and comfortingly squeezing Sara's hip.

"Or, you know, do." Brent joked with a grin, making Ryan smile, chuckling slightly, as he looked up from his phone. Brent smiled back, as he tensely, and nervously hugged Ryan, "stay safe, Ry."

Ryan hugged back, making sure not to relax into the familiar hold, but he did smile at the tense comfort, "you stay safe too, Brent."

Shane coldly watched the two, arms crossed over his chest, as his stomach churned and twisted, his chest suddenly in his stomach, and his nails dug into his pale skin, leaving half crescent bitten nail marks in his arms. He knew Brent and Ryan were still friends after their _disagreement_ , as Shane had come to call it, but he still had no idea why they fell out if they were 'unhealthy'. Or, why they were still friends if they were 'unhealthy'. _Does Ryan like Brent back? Oh, fuck..._ This just made everything more difficult then it already was.

Sara leaned over, and nudged Shane's arm with her shoulder, making him look down to her, coming out of his jealous and worried trance, his thoughts scattering around his mind wildly, as if a helium balloon being let of its air, and speeding through harsh, powerful winds. Sara smiled reassuringly, "don't worry, Curly will take care of Obi." As if that was what he was thinking about, and now that Sara mentioned Obi, it's all he was thinking about now.

Shane nodded, and smiled thankfully at her, "thank you. He knows the instructions are on my door, right?" He asked, having written up a detailed plan of what needed to be done for Obi, and what times, what he likes and dislikes, then taped it to the door.

"I doubt he'll miss them." Sara grinned, shaking her head, because _of course_ Shane wrote out detailed instructions for Curly for when he looked after Obi.

Ryan looked to Shane in despair, eyes annoyed and desperate for a way out, and sighed, shoulders slouching, and then looked at Brent, hopeful, "do I have to go? Can't I stay here with you?"

Brent's face lit up like a Christmas tree, as if a boy on Christmas getting the gift he really wanted and nagged his parents for the whole year, full of hope and joy, but then he frowned at the sudden realisation, slouching as well, "I wish, and I want you here. But, the 'bosses' want you to do this. And you and I both know it's not good for us to be close together." _No matter how much I want it, please say you do too..._ Brent thought helplessly.

Ryan sighed, and nodded, any form of hope gone. It was true, Brent was right, as always, "right, I-I'll see you soon... Hopefully."

"See you soon, Ry Guy." Brent smiled, gently shoving Ryan's shoulder playfully and fake happily.

Ryan smiled, and gripped the handle of his suitcase tightly, knuckles turning white, he looked over his phone again, and then looked to Shane, annoyed, "come on, _Uber_ here's." He pulled his suitcase out, waving a small bye to Sara and Marille with the hand holding his phone, not looking back to Shane, knowing if he did he'd scream in anger, and probably cry.

Shane smiled softly, and tiredly to Sara and Marielle, then picked up his suitcase, following after Ryan with a blank, emotionless look on his face, making sure to not look at Brent, knowing if he did, he'd punch the man for simply being Brent, and being near Ryan.

The two climbed into the rather small _Uber_ car - Dante Kay, a black _Seden_. The leather chairs squeaked as they shuffled for comfort, and suitcases were placed on their laps, crushing their legs, and sat in near silence, besides the radio that quietly played in the background - some song with violins and piano notes.

~~~~~

Sitting in the small, economy class, faded blue plane window seats, the two desperately tried to ignore each other, despite being so close together again. Shane's long legs were cramped up due to the lack of space, and so sat on the aisle seat to stretch his legs when needed, and Ryan's rather broad shoulders were already aching from the way the seat pushed his head forward, having sat in the window seat. You would think a group of 'Super Heroes' would have something like a private jet, or be able to afford first class, but nope. Stuck in economy. Not that they believed themselves to be better then civilians, but it was wishful thinking on their part.

A skinny, and overly cheerful blonde flight attendant began her 'explanation', that was really just her waving her arms around, as the pilot's rather bored voice sounded from the speakers, and explained safety precautions.

Shane looked down, and looked to Ryan, who was picking at his jeans. His's eyes scanned over Ryan's muscular and rather small form, and his eyes landed on his copper coloured shoes. Suddenly, his mouth was on autopilot, and said, "hey." Ryan's eyes glanced to his side, and Shane continued, "your shoes kinda look like two little pennies..." Shane had the urge to face palm as soon as he said that. _Who says that without it sounding weird, or sound like you're insulting them?!_ Shane thought helplessly, that really wasn't his intention, it was just something he saw, noted, and then _said_ , before thinking it through.

Ryan looked up, his focus now completely away from destroying his jeans, and then looked to his shoes to see what Shane meant, "oh yeah, I always thought that!" He smiled shyly, showing that charming smile, showing off his perfect teeth. He didn't even realise he threw his copper like shoes on that morning! He looked down to Shane's large, brown shoes, and said with no malice in his voice, "yours kinda look like footballs."

"I don't really like these shoes..." Shane chuckled and blushed, rolling his ankles, realising he had put in his large and rather embarrassing shoes. "They're kinda dumb." Shane was mortified, why can't he stop talking? Usually, this would be some form of argument. Is this how all their arguments sounded? _Did we ever actually argue hatefully? Have I been reading this wrong?_

"What?! They're great! They're football shoes!" Ryan smiled, but he himself was rather thrown off. He should just stop talking, before Shane realises his 'hatred' was actually him repressing his crush. _Why's Shane joking with me? Shane hate's me... Right?_

"Oh, thanks..." Shane smiled, nervously, and then quickly looked forward, seeing the flight attendant was now sitting, finished with waving her hands, and Ryan looked down to his jeans and went back to picking at them. The didn't glance at each other again, more tense and awkward then when they sat in the _Uber_ car, and they didn't acknowledge the other until the plane set off for it's rather short flight.

Shane looked to the small, seat back screen in front of him, and looked to the stock image of a plane wing in the sky, surrounded by white, fluffy clouds. He rolled his tired eyes, and clicked onto the movie list, and scrolled through said movies, trying to find a movie to occupy this upcoming very tense, and quiet, one hour and ten minute flight. Despite the flight being so short, he had a feeling it was going to be the longest hour and ten minutes he's ever know and lived through.

_Moana, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Bird Box, Mamma Mia..._ He paused, his index finger hovering over _Mamma Mia_ , and looked to the small picture for the movie, with the actors _Meryl Streep_ and _Amanda Seyfried. Two talented and quiet pretty actors,_ Shane couldn't deny. He hummed, "well then, _Mamma Mia_ it is..." He reached into his backpack, and fished out his white, dollar store earphones, deciding to watch the musical, comedy movie.

Ryan looked up from his clasped hands in his lap, hearing Shane mumble to himself, and stopped absentmindedly twiddling his thumbs together together, "you like _Mamma Mia_?" He chuckled, quietly, a small smile gracing his lips.

Shane raised an eyebrow at the smaller male's question, "and you don't?" He asked, voice rather shocked, and jokingly offended, as he playfully held a hand over his heart as if Ryan not liking the movie, physically wounded him.

Smiling rather cheekily, Ryan opened his mouth, and actually began singing, _"yes, I've been brokenhearted, blue since the day we parted."_

Shane's eyes lit up in cheeky, boyish joy, smiling, as if he discovered some form of dirty secret, and he sang back, _"why, why did I ever let you go?"_

_"Mamma Mia, now I really know, my my, I could never let you go!"_ The two sang in unison, and horribly off key, eyes bright and a large smile on their face, cheeks red and rosy in joy.

They went to sing more of _Mamma Mia_ by _ABBA_ , but were interrupted by a sickly sweet, "eh-hem," best described as _Imelda Staunton_ when she played _Dolores Umbridge_ in the film adaptation of _Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix_ , and _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1_. They looked up suddenly, seeing the flight attendant from before, and now that she was closer, they saw the layers of make up caked, and terribly blended on her face, and her bright blue eyes, and shiny, blonde pinned back hair, and fake, french tip nails, with the name badge reading _BECKY_ attached to her blue, skin tight dress, her pink lips, pulled into a tight, overly friendly smile, but her blue eyes held clear annoyance at the two men, "I'm sorry to bother you, but can you please keep your voices down? Thank you." There was no room to debate apparently, either. Maybe it's because they talked through out her performance for the safety breaching.

Ryan chewed his lower lip, and scratched the back of his head, and nodded, agreeing to keep quiet, and Shane winced, pulling a face of awkwardness, "sorry..." He apologised for both of them. They silently watched her walk to the front of the aisle, her skinny hips swaying, and her black heel shoes quietly clicking against the rugged, blue faded floor.

It was as if they realised how close together they were, having been leaning in when singing _Mamma Mia_ together, because they shot away from each other immediately, flushing a light red. Ryan sunk into the uncomfortable plane seat, slouching and looking back to his jeans, and Shane looked back to the small screen in the seat in front of him.

Coughing awkwardly, Shane held out one of his earphones to Ryan, "you, uh... You wanna watch with me?" He asked, quietly, bouncing his long leg, nervously.

Ryan looked to Shane, his eyes widened in shock, looking to Shane's long, pale fingers, holding the earphone in between the pads of his tips. Nodding, Ryan gently and hesitantly took the earphone slowly, as if afraid Shane was going to pull away harshly, and Shane watched Ryan's tanned, nimble fingers move closer. Ryan's fingers brushed against Shane's, and the two took a sharp intake of air as Ryan's calloused, yet soft fingers, brushed against Shane's warm, smooth, soft fingers. They felt sparks ignite though their skin as they touched, and the touch left their skin tingling gently for more. The two harshly swallowed thick saliva, looking to each other.

Ryan nervously, and shyly smiled, letting out a shaky breath, "thanks..." He gently pushed the earphone in his ear, and Shane watched, and licked his lips, tense. The two stared at each other, and then looked to Shane's screen suddenly, blushing a bright red, the same colour as a cherry, and Ryan made sure to sit as far as he possibly could from Shane, sitting right against the window. Not wanting to waste time, and sit in awkward, tense silence, Shane pushed the earphone in his ear, and then pushed it into the outlet on the screen, and began playing _Mamma Mia,_ and the opening began to _I Have a Dream_.

The two sat in silence, tense, watching the hour and forty minute movie, which helped pass the time.

~~~~~

Loud, obnoxious chattering, and harsh feet stomps, and crying, wailing children filled Ryan and Shane's ears as they walked off the plane and into the airport, and collected their suitcases. Ryan was on his phone again, face lit up from the phone screen, actively ignoring Shane, and Shane looked over to him with a frown of confusion, "what are you doing?"

"Calling an _Uber_ for us." Ryan responded, and went to order an _Uber_ , but Shane reached over, and gently lowered Ryan's hand, wanting - no, correction - _needing_ to touch Ryan again, and he silently relished Ryan's soft, smooth hand. Ryan swallowed, tensing up and allowed Shane to push his hand down, "what?"

"Let's walk, unless it's too far." Shane smiled, rubbing his neck, awkwardly, as if he just realised what he said.

Ryan pushed his black cased phone into his back pocket, and nodded, "alright. The walk to the hotel is like, thirty minutes away. You sure you're okay with this?"

"Yeah!" Shane shrugged, a small awkward smile on his face, going through security and leaving the airport, a rather tense and boring activity.

Ryan stretched, popping his muscles, instantly relaxing his joints, and taking a deep breath of fresh air, "let get going." He jerked his head, and began walking off with his suitcase. Shane followed, pulling his suitcase with him.

Shane quietly watched Ryan, who was looking at his phone still, eyes stern and serious, and Shane admired the way Ryan's eyebrows pinched together, his face in a serious frown, but he knew that the air around them was awkward. How could it not be after that weird, finger brush thing? Shane coughed, getting Ryan's attention, and Shane asked, "you still like all those Unsolved Cases?"

Ryan nodded, "yep, _The Impossible Disappearance of Dorthy Arnold, The Chilling Exorcism of Anneliese Michel, The Murders That Haunt the Lizzie Borden House—"_

Shane cut in, "which by the way, good deduction on the theory it was John Morse, working with Maggie and Lizzie, who might have loved each other!" He grinned at the end of his sentence.

"One of the rare occasions that we agree on something. That I'm base." Ryan grinned, rather proud of himself for that particular theory, "why? Are we asking each other twenty questions?"

Shane laughed shyly, "no! Not unless you want to!"

Ryan shook his head, not like he needed to ask Shane anything, he already knew Shane enough, "you still like history, right?" He asked, making sure.

"Yeah." Shane nodded, looking down, and Ryan nodded, the two falling silent and awkward again.

Shane shoved one hand into his pockets, the other holding the suitcase, and looked down, kicking stones with his 'football' shoes, and Ryan noticed how everything was tense. Sighing, Ryan looked to Shane, "go on, give me a history lesson, Big Guy."

"What?" Shane asked, confused.

"Give me a history lesson. Or," Ryan shuddered in disgust, and forced out through gritted teeth, "tell me about... _The Hot Daga..."_

Shane smiled, and shook his head, "it's not Friday yet, so there's no need to torture you with my masterpiece." Shane looked down, and ran a hand through his hair, thinking, "how about, I please both of us?"

"Dude, that sounds so inappropriate!" Ryan chuckled, shaking his head.

"Ever heard of _The Mysterious Disappearance of Roanoke Colony_?" Shane asked, smiling, ignoring Ryan's rather inappropriate comment.

Ryan frowned, and raised an eyebrow, eyes wide in curiosity, "no. Colonial intrigue!"

"It's pretty much, an entire island of people vanishing, without a trace." Shane said, smiling, holding his suitcase. God, he hoped Ryan didn't make fun of him.

"They poofed, basically?" Joked Ryan, smiling.

Shane grinned, "yeah, you could say it that way."

"Alright, tell me about this poofing island!" Ryan grinned, rubbing his hands together as if ready for juicy details.

"On May 8, 1587, approximately 120 settlers sailed from England to Roanoke Island — off the coast of what’s now known as North Carolina." Shane began his explanation, "arriving sometime in July of 1587." Ryan nodded, he's listening, and his face is serious, and trained on Shane, showing he's interested. "The governor of the new 1987 Roanoke settlement was John White, an explorer and an artist. And, within their first month they endured a few small attacks from local Native Americans, and the colonists reportedly wanted John White to return to England, and retrieve more supplies for them, such as food, tools, and people.So, on August 25, 1587, just a month after arriving, he sailed back to England for supplies, leaving behind 115 colonists." Shane explained, "that's 87 men, 17 woman, and 11 children, including his own daughter Eleanore White Dare, who had just given birth to a daughter, White's granddaughter, Virginia Dare, the first baby born in North America to English parents."

Ryan cut in with a, "woah! That's cool!" His eyes were wide in amazement.

"Yeah, and she's kinda like um, at least the name "Dare" is kind of etched into all of history, like the _Dare County_." Shane said, gushing slightly, excited, as he loved history, and Ryan could tell.

Ryan smiled and happily entertained Shane, "yeah, I'm familiar with that. It's such a pain in the ass to have to go back to England all the time. I mean, I've done things where I forget something in the dorm room when I get called in for a mission. Like, I forget my pocket knife at the dorm sometimes, I gotta run back. Could you imagine if you went out on a voyage, and you realised," Ryan snapped his fingers loudly, "fuck, forgot."

Shane answered, "food." In a deep voice.

Ryan laughed lightly, smiling, a small wheeze escaping his lips, "well, looks like I'll hop back in the boat!"

"See you in three years!" Shane added on in the end.

Ryan's smile dropped, his eyes widened as his face morphed to one of shock, "it took three fucking years?"

Shane laughed, "yeah!" He started to calm himself down, and continued on with his 'investigation', smiling. "Unfortunately, White’s timing was poor. England was on the verge of going to war with Spain who had a strong fleet of ships. Because of this, White wasn’t able to return to Roanoke for three years, he finally made his way back to the island on August of 1590. To his bewilderment, when he arrived, the entire colony had vanished without a trace. The only clue was the word “Croatoan” carved into a fence post, and “Cro,” carved into a tree."

"If they had the foresight to write that clue, why not leave more clues?" Ryan asked, tilting his head.

Shane rolled his eyes and smiled, "they didn't have like a fridge that they could put a little magnet and note on. Ryan, you lived when fridges didn't exist, remember?" Shane lived when fridges didn't exist too, but still.

Ryan laughed slightly, "no, I mean—"

"Did they have quills?" Shane asked, eyebrow raised. God, he misses quills sometimes, they were annoying but such fun to write with. It was nostalgic.

"They obviously had a tree and a fence post they could carve into. Why not carve a little map?" Ryan offered, scowling but his voice still held interest and joy.

Shane grinned, "they could have just added like a "see you there"." He then stopped Ryan before he could say anything, "but, spelt like how old people think teenagers text, with a 'c' and 'u'."

"I'm just saying, something like that, help 'em out!" Ryan defended, arm out as they walked down the street.

Shane continued his joke, ""fyi went to Croatoan"."

""Be back never"." Ryan added, "be, spelt like the letter."

""ttyl"." Shane added.

Ryan glared playfully, "you're supposed to be teaching me! Not making fun of me!" Ryan thought, and scratched his chin, "right, if he's sailing back to England to get supplies, and they get surrounded by Natives who say, hey you're coming with us." Ryan pointed to Shane, shoulders broad, "and they go, oh you think so? Let me grab my knife." He turned but then paused, trailing off, "oh, we don't have the knives yet. I guess, where do you wanna us to go? Oh, you want us to jump in the ocean? You got it!"

Shane couldn't lie, Ryan's quick on his feet, and while some theories he came up with were nonsense, there were ones like that that made sense, with clear and rational thinking. This was a clear indications that if Ryan wasn't a 'Superhero' he could have become an detective, or a murder, or maybe even both! Shane shook his head with a fond smile, and continued with his 'history, conspiracy lesson'. "White made two attempts to sail south, about 50 miles to the nearby Croatoan Island, now known as Hatteras Island, to search for the colonists. However, both efforts were foiled by storms that forced him to turn back." Shane explained, and liked the look Ryan was giving him, like he was gripping onto each word. "Because the boat White used was privately owned, he was unable to look for a third time. He returned to Europe, and moved to Ireland, where he passed away in 1593, never knowing what’d happened to his family."

"What if they hated him?" Ryan asked suddenly, throwing Shane off.

"What?!" This is exactly what Shane meant by Ryan having smart theories, then dumb theories. I mean, where the fuck did that come from?

"What if they just hated him?" Ryan asked again, like it made sense, no sense of joking.

Shane blinked, and saw how serious Ryan was. "The entire colony hated him and decided we're just gonna like—"

"Yeah, we're gonna bounce and leave." Ryan said, smiling slightly.

Shane shook his head, "and leave without all of the supplies they needed?"

Ryan shrugged, "I mean, they seem like they were doing fine."

" _No_ , because they sent him to go get supplies, that was the purpose of..." Shane trailed off, seeing Ryan shake his head.

"Right, I'm saying that's their fu... That's their, like... "Yeah, you better leave for three years"." Ryan explained.

Shane made a noise of realisation, "oh you're saying that they faked starvation?" Ryan hummed, nodding, and Shane continued, "you think they all were doing a 'bit'?" _That's what it's called right?_

"I think they were doing a bit! Good colonial razz!" Ryan grinned, and lifted his hands, and bent his fingers, as if peaking out from behind a wall, "just like, he's buying it!" He whispered, "he's going to that other island!" Shane laughed, a smile on his face and shook his head. "We got him!" Ryan suddenly pointed, "he left. They all came back out, had a little pig roast."

"The locals are in on it too and they're all snickering behind the bushes." Shane offered, smiling, and the two began to mock snicker. "We got him good!" Shane whispered.

Ryan made his voice squeaky, as if just finishing snickering, "look, he's sailing away!"

"What an idiot!" Shane whispered, and the two stopped walking and laughed, leaning on each to hold themselves up, bright smiles on their faces. Ryan stopped smiling, realising he was leaning into Shane's side, and Shane's arm was wrapped around his shoulders, and Ryan pushed himself up, coughing awkwardly. Shane lowered his arm from Ryan shoulder, also in realisation, and swallowed, continuing with his explanation. "To this day, nobody knows for certain the fate of the lost colony of Roanoke. Despite 115 people disappeared, no bodies or signs of a mass grave have ever been found. Historians, such as myself—"

"You're not a fuckin' historian." Ryan mumbled, pulling his suitcase again.

"—have theorised on the lost colony in the hundreds of years that have passed. See, this is where your favourite pat comes in! There's been plenty of people online that have pointed to supernatural causes." Shane said, and saw Ryan's face grin, as if to say; _theories and supernatural elements?! Must be my lucky day!_ So, Shane quickly jumped in, "but, non have been proven to be conclusive evidence!"

Ryan waved his hand with a soft smile, as if to say; _minor details my friend!_ "Well, with that being said, Shane, lets jump into the theories!"

And, who was Shane to deny a happy Ryan when they were on base with something they both liked? "The first theory; The settlers were murdered by a local Native American tribe. This theory is supported by the fact a previous attempt made by the English to colonise Roanoke Island years before between 1585 and 1586, but they soon returned to England after attacks from some of the Native Americans they encountered, as well as a shortage of food. The governor of the first Roanoke colony, Ralph Lane, was not know for his diplomacy with the Native Americans, Lane would actually go on to kill the king of the local tribe, Wingina, in an attempt to prevent the Natives from rising up against the colonists."

"Not the best diplomat." Ryan hissed, wincing, upper teeth stuck to his lower lip.

Shane wheezed out a laugh, "no."

"Not great negotiation there." Ryan sighed, shaking his head.

Shane laughed again as he continued his explanation, "this prompted Sir Francis Drake to come rescue the colonist and bring them back to England. And, as you know, a different set of English colonists would return about a year later in 1987 and vanish."

"But, as you also mentioned before, there were no mass raves." Ryan said quickly, pointing to Shane with his index finger, "and there's been no large scale number of bodies to be found to support the idea that over 100 people were killed!"

Like Shane said, Ryan is quick on his feet. "yeah, but there was an attack on the settlers a month before he had left. So, I think we're done here really." Shane shrugged.

"Yeah, but there's no bodies, therefore no evidence. And, may I say, wanna here the other theories!" Ryan yelled, and snapped his fingers to hurry him on, "come on Professor Madej, get on with it!"

"Alright, alright!" Shane threw his hands up in surrender, "the second theory; Is that the English settlers joined a nearby friendly Native American tribe and assimilated. One possible Native America ambassador was a man named Manteo, who travelled to England in 1584, but also made a second year-long trip after that between the two Roanoke expeditions. He even sailed back to Roanoke with John White and the new colonists in 1587, spending months together on the journey across the Atlantic. Furthermore, after Manteo was baptised upon his return to Roanoke. John White declared Manteo to be the chief of the Roanoke and Croatoan tribes, whom the English called Croatan." Shane went to continue, but grinned and saw Ryan's shocked, and surprised face, so he said, "this guy, on the way back to the island is just like—"

Ryan cut in with a grin, "you will be chief!" Shane laughed and Ryan continued, "I say so! I'm a white man!"

Shane nodded his head with a grin, "yeah, well if John says so, then let's set it up!" He jerked his thumb behind him, as if something was there, "there's your crown, there's your chair!"

"What a piece of shit," Ryan mumbled, shaking his head.

"However," Shane continued with a smile. "Manteo was only from the Croatan tribe, not the Roanoke tribe. He could not control them, and ended up going back to the Croatoan Island with his people, possibly returning at some point to Roanoke to take the colonists with him to Croatoan Island. In 1888, 54 Croatan Native Americans petitioned congress for aid, describing themselves as a remnant of White's lost colony. A few months later, the directors of Ethnological Bureau responded writing, quote, "it was thought that traces of white blood could be discovered among the Indians, some among they having grey eyes. It is probably that the greater number of the colonists were killed; but it was quite in keeping with Indian usages that a greater or less number, especially women and children, should have been made captive and subsequently incorporated into the tribe". End quote. In 2015, archaeologists found a series of objects of European origin on Hatteras Island, where the Croatan tribe resided. This included broken bowls from England, the hilt of an iron rapier sword, and a writing tablet made of slate, that may have still had the letter M printed on it. And aglets. The sword would have been used in England in the 16th century, and the hilt of it would have belonged to an Englishman of high standing. The writing tablet would have been used by eductaed upper class Europeans. Aglets are small copper tubes used before the early 17th century to secure wool fibres.Therefore, these findings would seem to point to the presence of colonists of roughly the same time period and class as the people of Roanoke." Shane said, and when Ryan went to say something his mind being mushed slightly, Shane continued, fully enjoying himself. "However, most of European finds on Hatteras Island were among other objects that date back to the 17th century, about 100 years after the disappearance of the Roanoke coony. Last but not least, this theory could explain the “Croatoan” carving, that the settlers left behind, perhaps as a clue to their whereabouts."

Ryan blinked, "can I speak now?" Shane smiled, and nodded. "So John White didn't look for them on this new Island?"

"He tried to, but then the storm." Shane reminded.

"He failed... So, they could have chilled there for a while! Then eventually they were like, well, hey I heard other people are moving in a couple states over. Near Philly. We're gonna go check that out." Ryan explained.

"It's possible!" Shane agreed, "get some cheese sticks!" Then he kept talking, "which brings us to our third theory; That the lost colonists didn’t move to Croatoan, they moved inland." He said, and Ryan nodded. "Remember, John White was also an artist. He was also apart of the original failed Roanoke expedition, and between 1585 and 1593, he created a detailed watercolour map titled, quote, "La Virginea Pars" end quote, that shows the North Caroline coast and includes both Roanoke and Croatoan Island, which are coloured red. The cartography of the map is thought to be extremely accurate, described by museum experts as, quote, "the most careful, detailed piece of cartography for any part of North America to be made in the sixteenth century." End quote. And, when compared to modern satellite imagery of the same area, the only difference in the map are the naturally changing shapes of the coastline."

"So, this guy wasn't looking at Google Earth, he was like..." Ryan trailed off thinking, "how do you do it?"

"I don't know anything about cartography. I'm not a cartographer." Shane said, helpless about this map.

"You don't, you absolutely do not." Ryan agreed.

Shane raised an eyebrow, and nodded slightly, "well neither do you, so..."

"Well, yeah!" Ryan agreed, nodding, and the two laughed, with Shane shaking his head.

"At a glance, this seemed nothing more than a map but upon closer inspection, this map was revealed to perhaps hide secrets that seemed straight out of the film, _National Treasure_ _._ " Shane said, he opened his mouth to continue but paused, seeing Ryan had stopped walking, and he frowned. "What?" _Was I that boring?_

Ryan looked down, face full of regret, as if he hated what he was about to do, "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but, well... We're here..." He jerked his head to the side, and Shane looked to up to see a double, window door. Shane nodded, and stopped talking, taking this moment to end his 'lesson', abruptly. Ryan sighed, wishing he hadn't stop Shane as he genuinely had been enjoying the lesson, but he had to so they could get their room, and so, shaking his head, he walked in through the doors, into the rather large, and fancy looking lobby. _It's very, very fancy..._

The lobby had a red, and black elevator, with large paintings everywhere of what might have been royalty, the floor was shiny, beige and red, with diamond shapes all over the floor. There were red posts, and red, and brown tables, and couches, there was a few lamps, and a large, diamond chandelier. The room was full of people who walked around, and read through newspapers, and magazines. It reminded Ryan of _The Shining_ lobby.

The check in desk was rather empty, besides the man behind the desk. The uniform's white, with a black bow tie, and black dress pants, with shiny buttons, with the name tag attached to the mans chest, reading _JACK_. Jack's short, a man, with a pot belly, and a large, fluffy moustache covering his upper lip, his hair was blonde, and curled, but resembled more of a mop shabbily thrown on top of his head.

Ryan leaned against the check in desk slightly, and didn't look to Shane, and Shane looked down at his 'football' shoes, kicking the floor, a squeak echoing the room. Ryan coughed quietly, making Jack look up. "Hi, uh, we're here for a room, under the name Steven Lim."

Jack nodded, humming, and typed on his computer, and looked up, eyes shining in recognition, "oh, you two are apart of the Inenarratus'." He looked down at the computer again, and typed, "will you be joining us for breakfast?"

Humming in thought, Ryan looked to Shane who nodded, glancing up, then looked back to Jack, "yeah, what time will that be at?"

"From six thirty to ten." Jack said, typing in Ryan's answer, "will you be joining us for lunch?"

Again, Ryan looked to Shane, who shook his head, and then looked back to Jack, "no thank you."

Jack nodded, and typed it down, then looked to the two, handing over two white and black key cards, "right, well, it's floor three, and room fifteen." He pointed to the elevator, "elevators there."

Shane and Ryan nodded, and pulled their suitcases to the elevator. They entered the rather large, light red elevator, and leaned on the walls opposite each other, staying far away from the other, and Shane pressed the floor number, watching it light up. They looked down, away from each other, awkward and tense as if they hadn't just been having fun walking to the hotel. Elevator music filled the room, filled their ears. God, this was really awkward.

Dinging, the elevator came to a stop, and the door opened. The two walked out and down the brown wooden floored hall, covered with a navy rug, and the wallpaper was white, with weird flowers on, like wallpaper that an old lady owned. The two made their way to room fifteen, the door brown, and wooden. Ryan scanned the card, and the two walked in, Shane first then Ryan.

The room was standard, rather large, with navy walls and a television, a navy blue carpet. There was a small bathroom, with a combined bathtub and shower, and a window with navy curtains, an oak coloured table with a stripped cushioned chair, and, finally, there's a double bed with white sheets. The two stood their awkwardly, staring at the bed, the only bed in the room, fuck the rest of the room, _there's only one bed._

Shane blinked, and shook his head furiously, face pulled into a frown, "nope. Fuck that, fuck that, fuck that..." He began walking out, but Ryan grabbed the his shoulder and pulled him back, "hey!"

"Shut the fuck up. I'll take the bed, and you take the floor." Ryan said, nodding to himself, as if proud of the decision, and he walked over, falling onto the bed, tired, as he sunk down into the cool, silky, white sheets.

Shocked, Shane blinked, watching Ryan cuddle into the pillow, then he glared, "what?! You're smaller than me!" He yelled as if that made sense, and it does. Shane's all limb and bone, he's going to be uncomfortable, and sore, with cramped limbs! Ryan's short and muscle, he can stretch out and be somewhat cushioned!

Ryan tiredly rolled his eyes. It's so fucking early, "I'm average height!" He corrected, "so, I get the bed, and you get the floor." He rubbed his tired eyes, planning on either taking a nap, or doing work. Which one?

Shane glared, and dropped - well threw - his suitcase onto the floor harshly, with a loud bang, "fine." He snarled through clenched teeth. He opened his suitcase harshly, and pulled out a loose blue shirt and track pants to change into. He stormed into the bathroom, angry and annoyed, a frown on his face.

Ryan watched, frowning, and he sighed, slouching as the bathroom door slammed shut. He looked down, and to get his mind off of Shane, he decided to work instead of sleep. He reached over, and opened his suitcase, pulling out a few beige files he had packed, he pulled out his glasses and began his work.

~~~~~

Shane slammed the white bathroom door shut, and leaned on the door, eyes closed. He dropped his clothes onto the tile floor, and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He shook his head, _fucking Bergara._ He locked the bathroom door, _fucking dick!_ He pulled off his shirt, messing up his hair, and pulled his glasses out of his pocket. He looked to himself in the mirror, and glanced to his not very toned stomach, he was slightly pudgy, _I hate Ryan!_

He pulled off his shoes, and set them to the side. He picked up the other shirt, and pulled it over his head, and pushed his arms through the short sleeves, _why the fuck does Ryan think he can treat me like this? Why the fuck do I let him?_ Shane pulled on the track pants, and turned the cold water on. He watched the water trickle from the faucet, and sighed, _great, fuckin' faucet's broken._ He rubbed his eyes, and plugged the drain, and watched the bowl fill up, _I can fuckin' take Ryan! He's shorter then me!... But, Ryan has gorgeously, tanned muscles._ Shane pinched the bridge of his nose, _damn it, Ryan... Ryan with his soft brown eyes, and pink lips. With his contagious laugh, and cute wheeze..._ In a way, he understood why everyone said they'd get along, _fuck! Ryan even likes Mamma Mia!_ He splashed his face with water, and pushed on his glasses.

He shook his head, ridding his thoughts of Ryan, and walked out of the bathroom with his clothes. Ryan looked up immediately, and the first thought that passed Shane's head was, _I didn't know Ryan wore glasses... Damn it, why does Ryan look so fuckin' good in glasses?!_ He looked down to the bed, and frowned, eyebrow raised. He leaned against the wall, "a-are those your unsolved files?" He covered his mouth with his hand, hiding his smile, but it didn't stop himself from letting out a laugh.

Ryan glared, "so what?"

Shane grinned, and walked to a space on the floor, he folded them, making a makeshift pillow, "you're such a fuckin' nerd."

"This is coming from the history nut, who sang German at a talent show?" Ryan teased, an annoyed smile on his face.

Shane rolled his eyes, "of course you wouldn't understand, you're a jock!" He looked around for a blanket, but shook his head, pulling out his jacket from his suitcase as a makeshift blanket.

Ryan sighed, and opened the file, showing it to Shane, "it's a case on the people we're fighting, on the creatures that fight us."

Shane looked over the file, and took it into his hands, being mindful to not touch Ryan's hand. He looked over the file, reading the details.

**_Fancy Boys_ **

**_Names:_ ** _Unknown_

_**Powers:** Unsure - Maybe, spear, sword, helmet. Possibly fusion?_

_**Wants:** To kill humanity, keep people with the ability to summon weapons._

_**Evidence:** Everything is rather fancy. Everything is well kept, and it's possible they live close to Headquarters._

_**Theory:** Two, or three people - different ways people have been killed. A third to destroy sights and buildings. Or, they're a fusion._

_**Creatures & Their Ranking** _

_Caprae Homines - The most dangerous creature to live. Looks like a man crossed with a goat._

_Pedites Magno - Dangerous, works well with Caprae Homines. Looks like a large 7'10, hairy man._

_Troglodytarum - Average height, strong. Leather skin, grey, and tall curled hair._

_Gallico Lactarius - Rather weak. Yellow, and red, small creatures. Almost a minor_ i _nconvenience, but it bites and scratches. Able to take over bodies if needed._

_Canis - The weakest creature. A large dog, easily beat._

Shane frowned in confusion, and looked to Ryan, "there's a lot of Canis to fight if they're the weakest..."

"I have a theory, that the weaker these creatures are, the further away we are from the _Fancy Boys_." Ryan explained, looking to Shane's profile, _god, he looks fucking amazing with those glasses!_

Shane looked down, thinking about the past year. They had been fighting so many Canis, and would move further and further away from the last Canis battle. He looked to Ryan, a serious look falling onto his face, "do you think we're getting further away?" Ryan looked up at him, just as serious and nodded slightly. Shane set the file down, and slid onto the floor, and lay his head on his make shift pillow, "we'll test you're theory tomorrow. For now, we need to settle in. Who know's how long we'll be here for."

~~~~~

Everything hurt. Shane's neck, back, arms and shoulders all hurt. What a shock, the floor is uncomfortable. He slowly sat up, squinting as the curtains were pulled back, letting in the bright light, and he stretched, hearing his back make a sickening crack. He reached over, and pushed on his glasses, and looked up.

On the bed sat Ryan, dressed in his uniform, his vest hidden by a loose shirt. Ryan was on his laptop, multicoloured post it notes stuck on the side of the screen, with scruffy writing littering them, with papers thrown about the bed, full of paper and highlighted words.

Shane rubbed his eyes with his fingers, going under his glasses, "morning Ry..." He greeted sleepily, and confused, _what is he doing?_

Ryan nodded, barely listening, "get ready. Breakfast finishes in twenty..."

_God, Ryan's so fucking hot.. He's so serious, so handsome. So focused._ Shane got up and grabbed his uniform, and a shirt and loose pants. He rushed to the bathroom, and flipped on the light. He looked in the mirror, nearly screaming in shock, his hair spiked up from rolling around in the rather terrible clothing pillow. He stared at himself, but then rushed around, getting changed, brushing his teeth, cleaning his face - He'll shower tonight when he actually has time. He rushed out, not wanting to make Ryan wait any longer, and not wanting to miss breakfast.

Ryan was standing up now, his work packed away in his suitcase, but was now on his phone, typing away, probably still working, and looking for any attacks by the creatures, possibly Canis, hoping to prove his theory. He looked up, seeing Shane in his uniform and covered with clothes, and he jerked his head to the door, "lets go."

Shane nodded, and opened the door. He playfully bowed and went to say something jokingly, but Ryan walked through the open door before Shane could speak, and he walked down the hallway, not even glancing to Shane. Shane blinked and shrugged, he walked out the entrance and closed the door behind him, walking after Ryan. The two walked in silence, minding their own business, and walked to the dinning room.

It was a rather small room, with a faded red carpet, with diamond shapes on. There were tables, that could fit about either two people on or four people on, and there was one table in the middle of the room that could fit six - you know, that one random table that could fit six? - with a window, and faded navy curtains. There was a buffet type of breakfast area, with food ranging from eggs to pancakes, at the end there was bread and a toasting machine, with fruit and cereal at the side, with butter and marmalade, and a bar that had a coffee machine, and two juice machines that look slightly like a slush machine.

The two walked off in different directions. Shane first getting his drinks; apple juice in a small glass that's the size of a contact lenses, and extremely sugared coffee in a rather slim coffee mug, and Ryan went and got his food first; eggs, sausage, rather stringy bacon, hash browns, and a few slices of toast and butter. Then they switched. Ryan went a got his drinks; orange juice in a small glass, and extremely bitter coffee in a small thin mug, and Shane got his food; pancakes and maple syrup, and cereal.

They sat in rather awkward silence as they ate and drank that morning. Their utensils scrapped against their plates, and Shane silently shivered, the noise going through him, and they awkwardly sipped their drinks, trying to make the small amount of drinks last, and wake up from a groggy night.

Shane glanced up to Ryan under his eyelashes, and watched Ryan eat a slice of buttered toast quietly, _we're not like this with other people, we're not this silent._ He noted, rather bitterly to himself. _When we're with mutual friends, we do talk, maybe argue with each other... Okay, no we do argue, but we're never silent with each other with others! But, we talk and argue like the others aren't there!_ He took a deep breath, silently psyching himself up to talk to Ryan, _just talk to him. Say something! What does Ryan like? Sports!_ And he eventually, rather awkwardly, he asked, "so, any new games on?"

Ryan paused, midway through cutting a sausage in half, and looked up, as if shocked Shane had even talked to him. "Like... Sports games?" He asked, frowning. Shane nodded, and took a sip of his apple juice. Ryan smiled and laughed lightly, "you don't even like sports!" He frowned in thought, and rubbed his head, "tell me about the new instalment of... _The Hot Daga_." He suggested, wincing, as if suggesting it caused physical pain.

Shane paused his sip, and frowned behind his glass before he set it down. He looked at Ryan in slight worry. He reached over, placing the back of his hand on Ryan's forehead, forcing back a blush at his sudden bold move. Ryan's cheeks and nose burst out in a bright red, feeling Shane's covered hand on his forehead. "Are you okay?" Shane joked, "are you ill? Possessed?"

Ryan waved his hand, swatting Shane's hand away, "dude, what? No! I was just asking!"

Shane crossed his arms, leaning back, eyebrow raised in disbelief, "you hate _The Hot Daga_!"

"And you hate sports." Ryan shrugged, as if he started it all. Which was true, Shane had started it.

"Fair enough."

Shane's last declaration was what put them back in awkward silence, looking down to their plates, and again, knives and forks scrapping against the plates, as quiet chattering from other guests filled the room.

Shane cursed himself silently, annoyed he managed to make things awkward again, "hey..." Ryan looked up to Shane, and Shane straightened up in shock, as if he hadn't meant to speak, and had shocked himself. "Uh, well... Do you want to watch a movie at some point? Like _Cars_?" Ryan raised an eyebrow in shock at the suggestion, and smirked as if to say; _you fucked up Madej!_ Shane shrugged, continued, "I think _Cars_ is very good. It's a wonderful 3x story," Ryan closed his eyes, as if nursing a headache, disgraced by Shane. "I understand," Shane raised a hand, "that the world is a lot to absorb." He lowered his hand, "I think it's a blast!" Ryan looked like he was ready to murder him, a small, annoyed not-really-a-smile fell onto his face. "I love the, uh, aesthetics of it all." Ryan shook his head. "I love the soundtrack. I've never heard another _Rascal Flatts_ song, but I like the one in the movie." Ryan covered his mouth in shock, hiding his not-really-a-smile, that was slowly turning into a really-a-smile, against his freewill. "And, I _do_ think it's better than some other _Pixar_ films that people..." He trailed off, playfully nervous, "tend to revere."

"Are you done?" Ryan asked, snapping playfully, shocked his partner could waffle on about _Cars_ for this long. "Are you done, sir? Are you done?" Shane looked at Ryan as if he had no idea what the issue was, and Ryan continued. "How dare you? What you just did right there, it's sacrilege of the highest form. There are so many great _Pixar_ films."

Shane cut in, "you can't—"

"It's not even in my Top Ten favourite movies—" Ryan cut back in.

"We've just discussed—"

"That film is not good!" Ryan cut in again, staring at Shane's mock look of shock. Ryan made the shape of an 'o', as if it was a zero with his fingers, "I felt zero emotion watching that film. No memorable characters, I—"

Shane hummed as if Ryan was dumb, "uh, _Lightening McQueen—_ " Shane said, rolling his eyes, and went to continue, but Ryan stopped him.

"I swear to God, if you say his fuckin' name..." Ryan warned, pointing his fork, that had a sausage stabbed on the end, to Shane, now fully smiling.

" _Mater_?" Shane questioned with a grin, " _Tow Mater_?"

Ryan shook his head, still smiling, "one of the worst characters in the _Pixar—_ "

"He's very funny!" Shane defended, over Ryan's talking.

"No he's not!" Ryan yelled, still smiling.

Shane shook his head, grinning, "he's a funny guy!"

"No he's not!" Ryan denied, "he's a stain on _Pixar's_ otherwise brilliant resume!"

Rolling his eyes, Shane said, "you know what? Sometimes you got live life in the fast lane."

"It's terrible..." Ryan said.

"I think you've flayed me enough here, I'm just trying to tell you about movies I like." Shane said, wearing a fake frown.

Ryan began laughing, and wheezing, "oh no! Whatever dude! Unbelievable!" He shook his head, "I bet you rehearsed this, guaranteed! You rehearsed saying it, you rehearsed me getting angry, and then you rehearsed pulling on little heartstrings," Shane was still fake frowning, as Ryan pulled his hands down as if pulling on strings.

Shane pointed with his index finger to his fake frowning face, "this is my frown." But, his frown was breaking into a smile.

"I'm gonna kill yo—" Ryan tried to say, but was unable to, and broke into a fit of laughter, and Shane was unable to hold back, and joined in on the laughter, finding Ryan's cute laugh contagious. The awkward, thick ice now broken, shattered, and their face were red, a large smile on their faces, as their cheeks began to hurt.

Ryan smiled, wiping a stray tear that seeped from his eyes and down his cheek, and he crossed his arms, leaning on the table, calming down, stray chuckles letting loose every so often. "Hey, why did you become a 'hero'?"

Shane calmed down, also wiping his teary eyes, and drying his cheeks, breathing out a sigh to calm himself. "Uh, well..." He smiled in thought. He's not thought about his life before he joined the Inenarratus', he's not thought about if for years. "Well, I always had the ability to summon my weapons. At first, it scared me, and my family told me to hide my abilities, I was a disgrace. I think they thought it was witchcraft, which is—"

"Fucking bullshit." The two said in unison.

Shane looked up, eyes wide in shock, and then relaxed, "yes, thank you!" He raised his hand at Ryan, and let it fall to the table with a quiet _thud_.

"Wait, did you actually entertain the idea that I may believe in witchcraft?" Ryan asked in shock, eyes wide. He almost looked offended.

Shane shrugged, "well..." He shook his head, and continued his tale, "anyway, I saw people get hurt, beaten, robbed and nearly killed and well... I realised I could do something. I could help, and so, I used my ability and became a vigilante of sorts." He shrugged, leaning back in the rickety chair, wincing as it creaked. "A few months into fighting Sara met me. She told me about the Inenarratus, told me I should join, and help people on a grander scale." He smiled, "well, I knew I wanted to do it, but I told her I'd think of it. I obviously took the job." He gestured to himself, and took a sip of his now cold coffee, and took a bite off his soggy cereal, and grimaced. "How about you?" He asked.

"I had the ability to summon weapons." Ryan sighed, a disgusted frown on his face, as if he wasn't happy about his memories before Inenarratus. "I kept them hidden, my family disowned me and blamed Satan for my abilities. I never showed anyone after my parents, and anytime I did, it was because I was in a life or death situation. You know?" He sighed, "well, news got to Marielle, and she told me about Inenarratus. It was a lengthy discussion; What it was, what I'd do, why me, that sort of thing." He explained, "I reluctantly agreed, and I stayed because well... I met Brent, and he needed me, and needed him. But, when Brent and I decided to stay away from each other, I stayed because I was apparently helpful."

Shane frowned, and shook his head, eyes wide in surprise, "you didn't want to become a 'hero'?" Honestly, that shocked him. He always saw Ryan as a man who was literally _built_ for this 'hero' shit.

"No," Ryan shook his head, and stabbed a piece of cold bacon. "And sometimes, I want to quit... I mean, I agreed to the job, and I agreed to the initiation, but I didn't think of the aftermath... Years of living, never dying but getting hurt, years of fighting, watching my brother age and die, even though I never got along with him... Getting with the times every decade or so..." He looked to Shane, frowning in confusion, "don't you ever wish you could be normal?"

Shane looked down at the table in thought, trailing the varnished, wooden table, "well... If you did become normal, and take back your initiation, I'd have no one to argue with..."

Ryan looked up in shock, shocked that Shane actually _enjoyed_ arguing with him. He slowly grinned, and rubbed the back of his neck, "someone has to show you proof of the existence of the paranormal."

"Exactly, and I'm here to prove to you that, ghosts aren't real!" Shane cheered, wheezing slightly and Ryan laughed with him, holding his stomach. Shane slowly calmed down with a smile, and he glanced to the old, wooden, varnished clock on the wall. Slowly, his smile turned sad, "do we have to go and do our jobs?" He asked, quietly.

Ryan brought out his phone, and sighed, a small sad smile on his face, and said regretfully, "yeah... We should go, there's been activity spotted about ten minutes away."

Shane heaved himself up with a sigh, his hands still gently placed on the table as he hunched over, "right... Lets go then..."

~~~~~

Dark, damp and musty alleyway, with cold brick walls, and trash cans overflowing with trash, wrappers and sticky drinks. Rats scurried around the floor, and it smelt like cheap alcohol, cigarette smoke and weed. Honestly, Shane's shocked they've not been stabbed by some drug addicted teen looking for money.

Shane leaned on the damp wall, silently watching Ryan scroll on his phone. He looked around, it was quiet, besides the loud beeping and yelling from tourists, "are you sure this is the right place?" Shane asked, having not seen any of these creatures jump out.

Ryan nodded, still staring at his phone, intensely, "it says the activity was right here..."

Shane sighed, and didn't argue. He was unsure how to pass the time until these things came out to play. At first he tapped his foot, quiet patting of his feet echoed around the alley, and he silently hoped to get a rise out of Ryan, but no such luck. So, he then began to recite random history facts he knew in his head; _From 1912 to 1948, the Olympic Games held competitions in the fine arts, the medals were given for literature, architecture, sculpture, painting, and music. One hundred impostors claimed to be Marie Antoinette's dead son. Ketchup was sold in the 1830's as medicine to cure indigestion by an Ohio physician named John Cook._ But, when that didn't work, he moved onto his phone, playing _Angry Birds_ by default. He has no idea why he still has the game, but he does and, while he doesn't enjoy it, it allows his brain to be shut off and play without thinking.

Ryan sighed, and rolled his neck, hearing the cracks and crunching of his bones, and sighed, satisfied, then went back to looking around he alley.

_Yes! Five hundred!_ Shane cheered, watching as the structure on the game fell and crushed a few pigs. He placed his thumb onto the screen, ready to drag back _Chuck_ and release, but he looked up from his phone, and paused, eyes wide, as he stared at Ryan. Behind the short man was a Canis, teeth bared, and drooling grotesquely, it's tongue lulled out to the side. Ryan looked up at Shane, confused at his horrified expression. Shane pointed behind Ryan, quickly, "behind you!"

Ryan spun around on his heel, just as a large, well kept, furry paw with claws came crashing down. He pulled his fists apart, summoning his gauntlets, and stopped the paw, kneeling under its pressure, and groaned under the strain. Shane wasted no time, and clenched his hands into fists, summoning his spiked, knuckled braces, and jumped onto a metal trash can, and leapt off of it, landing a powerful hit to the Canis, watching it poof away in black smoke. He landed on his feet, and helped Ryan stand, and the two turned, to see more Canis standing there, snarling and advancing on them, with about twenty of these creatures at least.

"Oh fuck..." Ryan sighed, shoulders slouching, but then got into a fighting position, fists raised.

Shane looked to Ryan, "you take then ten on the left, and I take the ten on the right?" He asked, unsure if Ryan was okay with that, and Ryan shrugged, as if he didn't really care, also unsure.

A Canis ran at Shane, which set off the other Canis', running at the two 'heroes', barking, snapping and yapping. Shane glared, and slashed his spikes at the Canis, watching as it turned to smoke, swirling, as another Canis came at him, snapping it's jaws and teeth. Ryan punched a Canis that came too close, and then blocked the claw slashing at him, and then punched it, turning to smoke. Ryan turned and saw Shane struggling to holding the Canis' jaws open, it's jaws centimetres from snapping shut around Shane's head, Shane's hands sliced open and bleeding from the sharp teeth. Ryan didn't think, and immediately tackled the Canis, and slammed it into the wall with a loud _bang_ , and it turned to smoke.

Shane got up, and jumped back avoiding a claw attack, and gave an uppercut to the Canis' jaw. It howled and fell onto its back, turning to smoke. Shane and Ryan looked at the other, and grinned, finding themselves pressed into each others backs, and held their fists up in fighting positions, silently saying; _I've got your back._

Canis surrounded them, and ran at them. Shane smirked, and slashed and punched at the Canis that came to close, while Ryan blocked the claws and teeth that came at them, his gauntlets thick enough to not pierce his skin, and punched at a few that came too close. Ryan looked to Shane, and pushed him down, "duck!" A claw swiped at Shane, but missed thanks to Ryan, and Ryan gripped the claw, Shane jumped up, uppercutting the Canis, turning it to smoke. Ryan turned, and threw his arm at a Canis, and it disappeared. Shane gripped one of the Canis' fur, and pulled it down, into his spiked, braced fist, and it turned to smoke. Shane tackled Ryan down out of the way from snapping jaws, he rolled off of Ryan, and got up, slashing at it, watching it poof. He pulled Ryan up, and Ryan kicked the Canis that had sneaked up behind Shane, and Shane punched at a Canis that jumped up from behind Ryan.

They yelled a battle cry in unison, ready to fight more Canis creatures, but paused, their yelling coming to a slow stop, seeing the Canis now gone, defeated, all that was there was an empty alleyway. Shane blinked, eyes wide, "we... We won..."

"Without help from Marielle and Sara... We... We won by ourselves!" Ryan smiled, feeling a joyous, giddy all over.

Shane smiled, and laughed, "we just won! We won by working together!"

"Ha! Fuck you Girls!" Ryan cheered, and laughed, literally bouncing around Shane, "we won! We won! We won!"

"Fuck yeah! We can work together!" Shane cheered, arms raised in triumph, "we actually did it!"

"Holy shit, we were awesome!" Ryan yelled, laughing. He looked to Shane softly, and stared, eyes wide, seeing Shane's head thrown back, shadows perfectly outlining Shane's profile, eyes crinkled, and a bright, cheery smile on his face, cheeks tinted red. Ryan laughed lightly, and readily held up his hand for a high five, which Shane happily gave him, a loud clap echoing the alley, the two calming doing into a wheeze.

Ryan threw an arm around Shane's shoulder, and giggling and wheezing. Shane paused, eyes wide in shock, and looked down at Ryan, his breath catching in his throat, hitching, the light perfectly catching Ryan's face, Ryan's eyes shining, and a wide smile on his face, pearly white teeth sparkling.

Ryan looked to Shane, and frowned, seeing Shane's eyes wide. He looked to his arm wrapped around Shane's shoulders, and pulled back suddenly, almost as if snatching his arm back, standing there tense, and awkwardly coughed, "we... We should go, uh, go and figure out where they're coming from... What they're doing here."

Shane nodded in agreement, a light blush coating his cheeks.

Ryan threw his hands up, and his gauntlets disappeared, and Shane shook his hands for a second, the knuckle braces disappeared. The two walked out the alleyway in silence, slowly. Shane's held his hands in front of him, and Ryan went on his phone, the two walking down the rather busy sidewalk to their rented car, a silver _2012 Hyundai Accent._

Shane slid into the faded, and scuffed drivers seat, and Ryan sat in the peeling passenger seat. Shane silent drove off, the two didn't say anything, but Shane noticed Ryan looking down, eyebrows pinched together, lips pulled down into a concentrated frown, he was thinking, it was clear to Shane, but what about?

Ryan bit his lip, frowning in concentration, _there were so many Canis... Why was there so many Canis?_

Shane thought, and looked to the busy road in front of him, and thought about Ryan's theory, "Ryan?" He got a hum in response. "Going by your theory, that the further we move away, the weaker the creatures are... Does that mean we've moved further away?"

Ryan shook his head slightly, "no... No, Shane... I-I have to be wrong..." _It just doesn't make sense. Steven and Andrew sent us here, they have to know what we're doing, I have to be wrong!_

Shane glanced to him, and frowned, seeing the doubt settle, and riddle over Ryan's face. "Call The Try Guys and The Girls, and ask what creatures they're fighting, and where they are." Shane offered in thought.

"I can't do everything, Shane." Sighed Ryan, sounding so defeated, rubbing his face tiredly, and annoyed that his theory was more then likely wrong, _damn it._

Shane nudged his shoulder slightly with his hand, before letting his hand rest on the gear shift, "I'll help you, don't worry."

Ryan smiled slightly, and looked up to Shane, his shoulders instantly relaxing, "thanks..."

~~~~~  
  


Shane and Ryan sat on the double bed, cool silk sheets gently brushing over their hot skin. There was an abundance of notes, scattered around the bed, the two on their phones, a notepad open on one of their knees and a pen in their hands.

Shane looked to the notes that scattered the bed, the blank, white pages holding Shane's rather neat, tidy, cursive writing, one that showed he wasn't of the twenty first century, his notes focused on Eugene and Zach, and Ryan's scribbled, rushed writing that looked like a spider crawled all over the paper focusing on Keith and Ned.

_Zach and Eugene_

_Location - Rosarito Beach_

_Fought - Canis_

_**ned &keith - san diego - canis** _

"And you two haven't split?" Shane asked, staring at his notes for Sara, twirling the black ballpoint pen between his fingers.

Sara, who was on the other end of the phone, replied, "no. Look, since when did you care about what the creatures Mari and I fight?"

Shane looked over to Ryan, he's why, Ryan is why he's asking, to prove Ryan's theory. Speaking of Ryan, he was talking to Marielle, his phone resting between his shoulder and cheek, pressed firmly to his ear, tapping the end of his pen against his notebook. He watched Ryan's lips, and heard his calm voice, with a hint of stress say, "so, you were fighting Canis?" He watched Ryan look up, and the two made eye contact, brown eyes swirling together in a whirlpool of chocolate, and the two fell silent. The two shared a small, gentle smile, and flushed a light red.

"Shane?" Sara asked from the other end of the phone, hearing Shane fall silent.

Shane jumped from Sara's voice, shaking the bed slightly, eyes wide in panic, "huh? Yeah?"

"Ryan?" Marielle asked from the other end of the phone with Ryan, who had also quietened.

Ryan shook his head, less shocked and jump scared then Shane, "what?"

Shane focused back on Sara, who again asked, "why do you care about what the creatures Mari and I fight?"

"Well, I was only curious! No need to get defensive!" Shane defended himself, a wide, cheeky, easy going smile falling on his face. He looked down to his notes;

_Sara_

_Location - Joshua Tree_

_Fought - Canis_

Sara frowned, worried for her friend, "Shane, are you okay? Is it Ryan?"

Shane's easy going smile turned soft, and tender, "something like that." He looked over to Ryan, and watched him write, and looked to Ryan's scruffy notes.

**_mari - josh tree - canis_ **

"Alright, I'll see you soon Mari, stay safe." Ryan said, smiling slightly, and hung up his phone. He sighed, exasperated, the smile falling from his face, and threw his phone onto the bed rather unceremoniously, and fell onto his back, bouncing slight, rubbing his eyes tiredly, pushing his glasses onto his forehead.

Shane frowned in worry, "hey Sara, I'll talk to you later. Be careful." He hung up, not hearing Sara's response. "Ryan? What's wrong?" He moved over, placing a comforting hand on Ryan's shoulder.

"I _have_ to be wrong Shane!" Ryan reasoned, feeling defeated more then ever. This wasn't a game, this wasn't a hobby, this was his _job_. "Canis are the weakest creatures! There's no way that everyone is fighting these things! Steven and Andrew can't be wrong for all us! I'm wrong!"

"I disagree," Shane said, shaking his head softly. He's sure Ryan's onto something. "Ryan, I think you're right. We've fought a few of the more dangerous creatures, such as the Caprae Homines, and then we'd move further and further away from that 'battlefield', away from the more dangerous ones, and then we'd fight double the amount of Canis." He reasoned, he truly believed Ryan, this theory of his made sense.

Ryan rubbed his face, and shook his head, "I'm just wrong..."

"Well, we also thought that we'd never get along. And look what happened today..." Shane smiled, "we fought together, and we've had a few good laughs!" _You might just be right, Ry..._

"You pissed me off with _Cars_." Ryan joked, a bright smile on his face.

Shane let out a wheezy laugh, and slid off the bed, and began making a clothed pillow to sleep on, "we'll figure it out, don't you worry Little Guy!" He assured.

Ryan looked at him, and watched Shane walk around, preparing the makeshift bed, and smiled softly, _god he's gorgeous..._ "Thanks Sasquatch."

Shane turned to him, and glared playfully at him, "I'm not Bigfoot! You're just annoyed I believe in Bigfoot more then your little ghosties and ghouls."

Ryan scoffed humorously, and sat up completely, rolling his eyes with a smile, "I can't believe, you believe in Sasquatch more than ghosts." He shook his head in mock disappointment, "Sasquatch isn't real!"

Shane smirked, "of course you don't believe in Bigfoot. Bigfoot is more ground in reality and science then ghosties and demons."

"You can't blame me for not believing in this seven ten foot, one thousand pound guy—"

Shane suddenly sneered at Ryan, "eh, leave Bigfoot alone."

Ryan blinked, eyes wide in confusion, then horror, "oh, I wasn't fat-shaming Bigfoot." He assured, hands up slightly in surrender, but was really of, _I would never do such a thing_.

"Oh, I thought you were." Shane replied, shrugging, and now slightly embarrassed that he had accused Ryan of such a thing.

"I just meant that this is a creature of enormous strength." Ryan explained, nervously, as if worried Shane hated him all over again.

"Oh..." Shane said, and began laughing, _oops_.

Ryan smiled, and laughed slightly, rubbing the back of his neck shyly, watching Shane fondly. _Maybe we can get along... When Shane isn't being an ass, that is._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inenarratus - Latin (google translate) - Unsolved  
> Canis - Latin (google translate) - Dog  
> Caprae Homines - Latin (google translate) - Goat Men  
> Pedites Magno - Latin (google translate) - Big Foot  
> Troglodytarum - Latin (google translate) - Trolls  
> Gallico Lactarius - Latin (google translate) - French Fries
> 
> I used dialogue from the BuzzFeed Violet episode, 'Should I Talk To My Crush?' - Dear God, Sara, Shane, I am SO SO SORRY! I re-watched the video, again and again, and I was like, 'ugh, I don't wanna! Shane and Sara are so cute!', and I almost scrapped the chapter, and the book, and my whole account. But, I didn't because I was doing this while on a Maths Online Call, and so, I continued when I wanted to cry while learning how to work out the volume on prisms. No, I'm not a child, I'm resitting Maths, I'm just really dumb.
> 
> I need to point out, I do not support J. K. Rowling, but I can still enjoy the books, and the movies. At least, that's what I've been told, so that is what I've been doing.
> 
> Yes, I made them bond over Mamma Mia, how could I not? So, lyrics and title from the song 'Mamma Mia' by ABBA.
> 
> And yes, I also made Shane read out pretty much the entirety of The Mysterious Disappearance of Roanoke Colony, so the roles are kind switched, but I believe it still fits, as I didn't include ALL the bits. So, I did sit through the video and paused each time Ryan and Shane said something, and I also used this shitty BuzzFeed article to held guide me. I used this website; www.buzzfeed.com/christopherhudspeth/5-theories-about-what-actually-happened-to-the-lost-colony . Yes, for that section of the chapter, I used numbers instead of typing it all out because, it would get confusing.
> 
> Also, I used dialogue from Watcher, Top 5 Beatdown - Film Critic Ranks Top 5 Pixar Films for the 'Cars' conversation - If you like Cars great, if not even better! Haha! Kidding! - Or am I!?
> 
> 2012 Hyundai Accent are apparently rather common rental cars, so that's what I'm using. And, Seden cars are apparently the common car for Uber's so, that's what I used, if I'm wrong - oops?
> 
> Also, conversations used from BuzzFeed Unsolved 'The Harrowing Hunt For Bigfoot'.


	3. love like you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There is a slight ‘make out’ scene, with tongues, but it stops there, I promise.

Loud, string like music filled Shane's ears. He slowly, and groggily opened his eyes with a tired groan, and slowly, he looked around the room, his neck, shoulders, and back were sore, and aching from sleeping on the floor. The room's dark, and shadowy, the darkness seeping in through the semi-closed curtains. He tiredly rubbed his eyes, clearing the fuzziness from them, and looked to the sound - His phone. His phone was ringing it's default ring tone, _Silk_. He tiredly reached over, glancing at the digital alarm clock on the bedside table, and read the red text; _3:36_. He looked at his phone screen, and squinted from the light, blinding and burning his eyes. It was a picture of Ned, looking playfully shocked, fingertips covering his lower lip, his mouth opened wide, with a pink background, and the called identification read; _Ned_.

He slowly clicked accept, and raised the phone to his ear, "hello?" He croaked out, sighing slightly, his voice hoarse and tired, _God, I need water..._

"Shane, we have an issue." Ned responded, he sounded frantic, and was no doubt, running his hands through his hair.

Shane squinted, looking up at the dark ceiling, eyes following the imaginary, grainy dots that danced in front of his tired eyes, "what?"

"Sara and Marielle are missing." Ned rushed out, stressed and panicked.

"What?!" Shane whisper yelled, bolting upright in a sitting position, eyes wide in shock, now completely awake, and his eyes focusing on the hotel room. _How?! We were just talking to them a few hours ago!_

"Sara and Marielle are missing!" Ned yelled, and Shane just noticed his voice was wavering, was Ned running? "Keith and I are trying to find them—"

"They were fighting Canis, and they were in Joshua Tree—" Shane began explaining, trying to help.

Ned cut him off, "but, they called me and told me they were moving their Mission to Los Angeles! And they went missing there!"

Shane frowned, looking down in confusion, "why did they move to Los Angeles?" He asked, rubbing his forehead in thought.

"They were on a mission as Mara," Ned explained, "and she was fighting a few Canis, but she saw a few Pedites Magno, which confused them. Mara called me, and told me about it, told me she was following them." He let out a shaky, and panicked sigh, "I called her a few hours later on both Sara and Mari's phones, but got no response. Eugene hacked into the surveillance cameras, and we found out that they were on Worth It Street when they were attacked." Shane reached over to his notebook, and began writing, no doubt it was all rushed, and scribbled, as he's in the dark and he's tired. Was his writing overlapping? "But, they were attacked by Caprae Homines, a few of them overpowered her, and slashed her. It Split Mara in two, into Marielle and Sara. A Caprae Homines smashed the camera soon after the Girls were grabbed."

Shane tried to focus his eyes to see his notes, but couldn't really see anything, "what were the Pedites Magno doing at Joshua Tree?"

Ned fell silent in thought, "well, when Eugene hacked into the surveillance cameras at Joshua Tree he noticed the Pedites Magno's setting something down, wiring things to the grids. Zach says it's bombs."

"Are you sure it's bombs?" Shane asked, biting and worrying his lower lip, hesitating to write down the new information. _Is this how the Fancy Boys are going to kill everyone? With bombs?_

"Yeah, Zach's a weapons expert, if he says it's a bomb - it's a bomb." Ned said, so sure of himself and his friend.

Shane nodded slightly, and wrote it down, "okay, okay, just checking..." He defended, "and this was at Worth It Street?" _That sounds so familiar... Have I been there before?_ He thought to himself.

"Yeah, not surprised, there's a bunch of activity for Caprae Homines' there." Ned explained, offhandedly, not realising he gave Shane a thought.

Shane blinked, _wait..._ He wrote down the information he was given, "right, okay... Thanks Ned... Don't worry, we'll find the Girls." 

Ned sighed, "right, we'll get on it too. I'll see you soon, stay safe Shane."

"You too Ned." Shane hung up, and gently set his phone down on the carpet. He immediately jumped up in a hurry, and grabbed Ryan's folder on the theory of the creatures. He slid on his glasses, and looked through the notes. He looked and saw that the Caprae Homines and Pedites Magno's were two of the most dangerous creatures on the list, the two being high on the list. He knew it, _Ryan has to be right!_ He thought, cheering in his head, his eyes wide happily. Ryan's theory has to be right!

He got on the bed quickly, almost jumping on it, and turned on the bedside lamp with a loud click. He looked down at Ryan who was still passed out, asleep, his hair was sticking up in random directions, his mouth was open widely, snoring and snorting, and drooling slightly, a wet patch of saliva collection on the white pillow. Shane didn't really want to wake him up, but he had to, and so he shook Ryan's shoulder gently, "Ry? Ry!"

Ryan jumped, heart racing due to Shane's scare. He groaned, as his eyes slowly opened, and he rubbed his eyes with the heel of his palms, pushing them into his eyes a bit too harshly, and then looked at Shane, squinting due to the light, and seeing black spots, "Shane?" He asked, annoyed and tired.

"Marielle and Sara are missing." Shane said, the moment Ryan made eye contact with Shane.

Ryan seemed to wake up immediately at that, and shot up in bed, sitting, his eyes wide, "what?!" He asked, in shock.

"Marielle and Sara are missing." Shane repeated. "They followed a few Pedites Magno into Los Angeles, where the fought Caprae Homines in Worth It Street. They were Split, and then went missing." Shane explained, running a hand through his hair, "apparently there's been a bomb planted at Joshua Tree. I think that's how the Fancy Boys are going to kill everyone, bombs. I don't know how exactly that will work, but that's my thoughts." He said, giving his idea, and he sighed. "Where is Worth It Street?" Shane asked, biting his lower lip in thought.

"It's ten minutes away from Headquarters, we pass it everyday when going into the city." Ryan answered offhandedly, and then went to ask something, but Shane cut him off.

"See? You're theory might be right! Mari and Sara went from Joshua Tree fighting Canis, to Worth It in Los Angeles fighting Caprae Homines." Shane explained, smiling slightly at the thought Ryan was right, and handed over his notebook, "sorry if it's all messy." He apologised, wincing slightly.

Ryan slid on his glasses, and looked over Shane's notes, getting a few more details in a more coherent way. However, Shane's usually neat, cursive writing was more like chicken scratch, and rushed, overlapped in a few area's and dipped and went up, no longer in a straight line. He looked to Shane, "you keeping repeating that Mara Split. Do you mean like... Into Marielle and Sara?"

Shane frowned, _that's what he's got from this?_ He thought. He thought Ryan would be happy that he was right, and that they got a bit more information. "Yeah, so what?" _Why does it matter if Mara split?_

"They must have been arguing..." Ryan said rather quietly, looking down at the bed, gripping the slightly warm sheets. "I mean, sure! A Fusion can be Split if damaged enough, but Mara is one of the strongest Fusions in Inenarratus, she isn't Split from damage, she can take it! Sara and Marielle must have been arguing, and when they eventually became Mara, they must have been unable to keep dancing with each other. Or, at least dancing steadily." He explained, biting his lower lip, chewing, worrying his lip to the point it bled slightly, "and when they were hit, it must have shocked them... They Split which must have dazed them, and then they were caught."

Shane frowned, feeling awkward, _Fusions_. He doesn't know anything about Fusions, or at least not much, "you know a lot about Fusions..." Ryan nodded absentmindedly, and Shane continued, "I didn't know you Fused..." He said, quietly, but he wasn’t sure. He could be wrong. "Have you Fused?" He asked, unsure and nervous, and Ryan looked at him. Shane frowned, "I haven't Fused, I've never Fused, I'm just... Too much for people..." He explained as he waved his hand, in truth he's never tried, he just saw himself as too much.

Tanned fingers messed, and fiddled with each other, pulling and tugging, the bones clicking and cracking, and also a bit of nail picking. Ryan sighed, staring at his worrying fingers, "Brent and I... We Fused for about six months... But, we stopped a few weeks before you came to Inenarratus..." He explained, his voice tight, almost as if it pained him to talk about it. He and Brent are still friends, but to Fuse, and then to stop... And, the way the two Fused...

_They Fused..._ Shane thought, shocked. He didn't know that. He's known Brent and Ryan for seven thousand and eight hundred years, and he's never known about this Fusion between them. But, they stopped, "why?" He asked, confused. _Why stop? I thought Fusions were nice, and calming? A bonding experience..._

Ryan swallowed thick saliva, and tucked a leg underneath him, the other dangling off the bed, and bounced his foot on the floor, uneasily, "what do you know about Fusions?"

_What do I know about Fusions?_ Shane thought, a small frown on his face in thought, _not much..._ "Well, two 'heroes' dance, and come together to be one. Their weapons, clothes and voices mix to become one thing, and yeah..." He knew the bare minimum, if he's being completely honest, he's never really given the whole thing much thought after he was told about Fusions. He blocked it from his mind, believing he would never be able to do it.

Ryan frowned at the little knowledge, but then smiled softly, a look of adoration in his eyes, as if remembering something amazing. "You're not one person, or two people. You're an experience... You dance together in your own style, in your own way, and come together to become that experience. Inside the Fusion you're still dancing together..." He sighed, a sad smile on his lips, "together, as this experience. Your weapons mix to become one, as do your clothes, voices and features, your Fusion is their own person. Usually, Fusions get taller, or get extra limbs or maybe a few extra eyes." Ryan explained, "the way this experience is usually described is it's harmony..." Ryan stopped smiling gently, instead he was frowning. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, eyes red, before his eyes blanked.

Shane also frowned in worry, noticing how blank Ryan looked, "Ry?" He asked, gently placing his hand on Ryan's shoulder.

The simple comforting touch and warmth from Shane's hand made Ryan slump, his eyes becoming wet. He sniffed, _God, I hate getting emotional._ "Brent and I are good friends still, I even had a slight crush on the guy when I first met him, but we... We weren't healthy as a Fusion, we weren't healthy as Bryan..." Ryan admitted, and wiped a stray tear that had sneaked from his left eye without his permission.

Shane blinked sitting up, his back now straighter in shock, having not expected that confession, completely thrown off, _that's why everyone said Ryan and Brent were unhealthy for each other... This makes so much more sense..._

"Our voices weren't mixed, it was just our voices but overlapped, as if someone had audio of our voices and overlapped them" Ryan explained, "we had a weapon that would mix and then Split, our clothes were just our clothes but not a new piece." He looked down, and sniffed, shoulders shaking ever so slightly. _Don't cry, don't cry, don't fucking cry!_ "We were almost fighting to gain control..." He admitted, shakily, "we were angry, and in pain, we took our anger out on each other constantly, and as a Fusion we hated each other. We agreed to never do it again." He glanced at Shane, and rubbed his eyes under his glasses, "we called ourselves 'we' and 'us', not 'me'..." Ryan and Shane stared at each other, "after that I refused to Fuse again... I didn't want to make anyone feel like that again..."

Shane looked down, and away from Ryan, his face riddled with worry and looked to his opened hands, "so, there are unhealthy Fusions?" He asked, though he knew the answer; _Yes_. He didn't want to make anyone feel like that when they're Fused with him. That is, _if_ he ever Fuses.

Ryan looked to Shane, and felt his chest seize up in guilt seeing Shane so worried. It wasn't his intention to make Shane worry, and so tried to make him feel better, "well yeah, but don't worry! You'll Fuse!" He assured, and nudged him gently, "Sara and Mari can fused with others, not just themselves! They've fused with Eugene, Zach, Ned, Keith, and even Brent! They just prefer each other. So, you have nothing to worry about, Big Guy."

Shane thought, and bit his lower lip, looking down, as he began to relax. He looked at Ryan in thought, "do... Do you think we could... Fuse?" He asked, rather shyly, rubbing the back of his neck.

"No." Ryan answered immediately, no questions asks and no room for arguing. "We hate each other." He reasoned, as if reminding Shane. He looked over to Shane, both of their eyes swimming in uncertainty, "right?" Ryan asked quietly, voice now unsure.

"Have we ever actually hated each other?" Shane asked, just as unsure as Ryan. "Is there hatred behind our arguments?" Shane laughed drily, rolling his eyes, but rather then looking annoyed, he looked upset, as if he didn't believe their arguments were always full hate. "I mean..." He paused, _maybe I'm wrong about all of this?_ But, he pushed his doubts aside, and continued. "Surely, we can't hate each other for seven thousand, and eight hundred years." He reasoned, swallowing nervously.

"And nine months..." Ryan added, offhandedly. Shane looked over at him in confusion, _where the hell did that come from?_ Ryan noticed Shane's confusion, and shrugged, "that's how long we've known each other." Shane's eyes widened in shock, and Ryan continued, "yeah, I know the exact month that we've known each other. So what?" Ryan shrugged, as if it didn't matter, and he crossed his arms.

Shane glared, annoyed Ryan wasn't seeing what he was saying. He threw his hands up, gesturing to Ryan as if to say; _exactly!_ "See?! What kind of enemies know the exact time, to the month, that they've known each other!" He ran his hands through his rather ruffled hair, ruffling his bed head hair more.

Ryan scoffed, rolling his eyes, moving away from Shane. He glared back, just as annoyed, "well, the same could be said about friends!" He yelled. "Who knows the exact time they've known each other?!" He asked, angrily, hands out wide, as if asking the world.

"People who are in love with each other!" Shane yelled back, annoyed and angry. He paused, trailing off, frowning in confusion, _wait..._ He blinked, thrown off, and looked at Ryan in surprise, his eyes now wide.

Ryan's eyes were wide in horror, and his eyes began to slowly get wet, rimming with non-spilling tears, tense and pale. "No..." Ryan shook his head slightly, swallowing back thick saliva, voice cracking, "no, Shane—"

"Ryan..." Shane said softly, reaching his hand out gently, as if to comfortingly touch Ryan's shoulder, but Ryan pulled away before he could, freezing Shane in his movements.

"Let. It. Good." Ryan said, calmly, but through clenched teeth, eyes hard in anger. He pulled off his glasses, and set it on the bedside table, he lay down, angrily, and kept his body turned away from Shane.

Shane sighed, and slowly got off the bed looking down, and went round to his makeshift bed on the floor. Ryan looked up slightly, and watched Shane set his notebook down, and take off his glasses, and he sighed. _Damn it, Shane..._ Ryan thought helplessly, annoyed that Shane figured out his secret. He shook his head, silently damning Shane for looking like a sad, kicked puppy, left on the sidewalk in the rain, "get on the bed Big Guy..." _What the fuck did I just say?_

Shane looked over in shock, and stood straighter, seeing Ryan looking directly at him, "what?"

"Get in the bed..." Ryan said, quieter then before, flushing a bright, embarrassed red. He tugged at his collar, and swallowed, _I feel sick..._ His stomach was churning and twisting, filled with dread.

Shane blinked, and smiled ever so slightly, and got in the other side of the bed, lying down and cuddling under the bed covers. He sighed, relaxing into the mattress, "thank you..."

Ryan smiled slightly, the dread settling in his stomach turning to butterflies, and sighed wistfully, "you're welcome." He turned away from Shane still, and closed his eyes, smiling still.

Shane turned away from Ryan as well, and smiled deep in thought, _could Ryan actually love me?_

~~~~~

_What's that around my waist?_ Shane thought, thoughts groggy and slow. He felt something strong, securely wrapped around his waist. Whatever it was gave him a sense of comfort, and warmth, he lifted his hand ever so slightly, and released his hand and fingers were interlaced with another hand, and froze. His brain woke up, finally, catching up with him. The _thing_ wrapped around him, he realised, was rather muscular, and the hand and fingers he held were soft, and smooth. He looked down slowly, and blinked away sleep, eyes widening in shock. The _thing_ was an arm, a tanned arm, _Ryan's arm..._ He noted.

He tried to pull his hand back, but Ryan's structured and comforting fingers tightened, gripping around Shane's hands, almost as if he was afraid to let go. In fact, he ended up pulling Shane closer to him, tightly, and securely, almost greedy of Shane's warmth and comfort. Shane sighed, and shook Ryan's hand that he was holding, "Ry? Ryan?" Ryan snored in response, tightening his grip around Shane's waist again. Shane sighed, and mentally apologised to Ryan, and he yelled, "Ryan!"

Ryan yelped, jumping, eyes wide open immediately, but through his panicked, slow, and groggily tired brain, Ryan noted he was holding something, and a hand was holding his. He blinked, realising he was holding a waist, a rather toned waist, but said waist was still slightly pudgy, but he liked it. Holding the waist was rather intimate, and soft, a form of comfort. The had was large, with long, nimble, comforting fingers, the hand was soft, and ever so slightly calloused from hard work. The hand was warm, and comforting, and then realised the hand and waist was Shane's, _I'm holding Shane's waist... He's holding my hand..._ He thought, swallowing harshly.

He sat up suddenly, "what the fuck?!" He yelled, running a hand through his hair rapidly, nearly pulling out strands of raven, silk hair.

Shane sat up too, just as quickly, "shit, Ryan!" This was not what he thought his first words would be on that morning, "Ryan, I'm so sorry! I must have—"

But, Ryan got up, out of the bed. His face was blank, absent and offhanded, eyes wide and lips pulled into a frown, that shocked look on his face, his lips ever so slightly in an 'o' shape. He shuffled over to the shared bathroom, and slowly opened the door, he slumped in, and shut the door quietly.

Sighing, Shane rubbed his face helplessly, having watched the door close. He couldn't lie, he felt safe with Ryan's arm wrapped around his waist, it was nice, cuddling and waking up in someones arms. It was gentle, and soft. Fuck, what Shane would give to have a few extra seconds in Ryan's muscular, and toned arms. He's give anything to be held by Ryan again. Anything at all. Ryan's arms were like a Greek God's arms, perfect, beautiful and strong. And, while it was amazing, and comforting, and gentle, soft and warm, one thought stuck out amongst others; _I can't believe I'm the little spoon... That's what kids use for cuddling this day and age, right? Big spoon, little spoon, right?_ He wasn't too sure with that, but he liked that _he_ was the one to be held instead of the other way around.

Now, he had a second thought from Ryan's blank and cold reaction, and that was; _I hope Ryan's not too angry with me..._ He thought helplessly, a frown on his face. Suddenly, he wished he could take it all back, and that way there would be no reason for Ryan to hate him, and they'd still be friends. _Friends? Where we friends? Where we becoming friends?_ Shane slumped over on the bed helplessly, and sighed, having a striking realisation, he fucked it all up with cuddling the shorter 'hero'.

~~~~~

Ryan closed the bathroom door with a soft, gentle click, and locked the door with a rather, uncontrollable loud click. His eyes were wide, and he was slightly pale, and suddenly, he rested his forehead against the wooden, cool door. He looked down to his hand, the hand that Shane held, and opened and closed his hand, before tracing the lines in the palms of his hands with his thumb.

It was nice, Shane holding his hand, as if there was nobody else. And, Ryan liked holding Shane's waist, he very much liked holding him. He felt nice, warm, and comforted, he felt like he could do some good for once, to actually help. He felt, liked, almost. He went to the toilet, still deep in thought.

Shane's waist felt so soft, smooth and gentle, almost like Shane's waist was made, specifically with Ryan in mind, so his arm could perfectly fit around Shane's waist. He walked to the sink and washed his hands, and began brushing his teeth, still thinking. He couldn't like, he felt a little lost without Shane's hand in his, it was so soft, and comforting, as if taking away the lonely feeling he felt every once in a while. He could happily do something like that again.

He washed his face, waking himself up, and calming down his hot, slowly reddening cheeks. A bright blush had formed on his cheeks, and nose, and he hadn't even noticed! That's a new level oblivious, even for him. He dried his face, and pulled on his uniform. His mind wasn't wasn't really on his job, his Mission. His mind was still on Shane, cuddling him, holding hands, and then finally, his mind fell onto one final thought before he opened the door; _I hope Shane isn't angry with me..._ He hoped, biting his lower lip.

Ryan walked out the bathroom, eyes cast down to the floor, and sat on the bed, but shot back up again, immediately, realising Shane was still on the bed. He backed up into the wall, and looked to the floor still. Shane frowned, and looked down, slumping slightly. He slowly slid off the bed, and collected his clothes, and walked off to the bathroom to change and get ready for the day.

Ryan watched Shane from under his thick eyelashes, and looked down again, quickly. He sniffed, and pulled out his phone slowly, deciding to focus on anything, but Shane and the... _Spooning? Is it called Spooning?_ He thought unsure, scratching his head. Jesus Christ, he's old, at this point he believes he should retire.

He scrolled through his phone, his face lit up with greens, blues and whites from his phone. He searched for any form of activity, through the news, and _Villain Finding App_. (The app was created by Curly, of course. The guy was good with moving with the times, and so, came up with this app, made specifically for the Inenarratus.) He paused, noticing high activity in an alleyway about thirty minutes from the hotel, no doubt Canis. _No time for food._ Ryan noted, dully, both relieved and annoyed with the fact. I mean, who wants to miss breakfast? _It is the most important meal of the day, right?_ He though, _is that even true? Is breakfast important?_ He absentmindedly thought, chewing his lip. He doubts breakfast is important, sometimes he skips the meal altogether. But, at least this way he doesn't have to sit, awkwardly in front of Shane and eat a breakfast.

Shane came out in his uniform, and went to grab his clothes to cover his uniform, but paused, seeing Ryan with his uniform on show still. He frowned, "Ryan?"

"We need to go, activity spotted thirty minutes from here." Ryan said, still staring at his phone, fingers clenching around the plastic.

Shane nodded, silently, his shoulders practically up to his ears, tense and awkward. _Right, Mission... No time for breakfast..._

~~~~~

Quiet chattering filled the soft winds, and a few cars sped past Shane and Ryan, who walked down the street in silence. Ryan was on his phone, walking and looking for the activity that had since moved from it's previous position, and Shane was looking around, in case he saw these things before the app. Which he doubted.

Shane glanced to Ryan, silent and tense, trying to read him, to see if he could figure out what Ryan was thinking. Ryan felt the someone staring, feeling eyes burn into his side, and suddenly, he glared at Shane annoyed before turning, ignoring the taller man, his thoughts still on last nights conversation of love, and waking up cuddling.

_He hates me..._ Shane thought, a helpless frown on his face. A dark, thick, sludge of fear filled his stomach, like red hot tar, as his anxieties trickled through his veins. _We've gone back to square one,_ he thought, miserable. He looked down, shoulders slouching, he knew he shouldn't have pushed Ryan about the 'how long we've known each other' conversation, and he knew he should have somehow gotten out of Ryan's grip this morning... _I've fucked it all up..._ Boy, does he feel like shit for making Ryan uncomfortable, but he can't take it back, no matter how hard he tries, or wants, he can’t.

Looking to Ryan, Shane opened his mouth to say something, but saw Ryan's cold gaze, and so, quickly snapped his mouth shut. Ryan looked down to his phone again, and Shane looked down, frowning, _damn it!_ He clasped his hands in front of him, messing with his fingers. Shane's mind was swimming with thoughts, all to do with Ryan, _Ryan, Ryan, Ryan!_

Suddenly, a large hand grabbed Shane's arm, squeezing painfully, and forcefully yanked him into the nearest dark, damp alley, and Shane yelped in shock, eyes wide in fear.

Ryan looked behind him, eyes wide, hearing him yell. He looked around, not seeing him, tense, _where is he?!_ He thought panicked, heart speeding up and pounding against his chest trying to escape, as blood rushed to his ears. He heard a loud scuffle, and rustling came from the alley, and grunting. Worried, he yelled, "Shane!" He ran after Shane, voice echoing the street. He paused at the opening of the alley in shock.

Shane was surrounded by Canis about fifteen or so, and was dodging attacks, by a Pedites Magno. It was swiping it's large, grey toned, leathery and calloused hands, with dirty, sharp claws at Shane, it's black, slightly matted hair, swaying in the wind it did, as the smell of rotting, maggot infested, trash filled Ryan's nose, making him tear up slightly at the intensity, _is that the Pedites Magno, or the actual trash?_ He thought, as he stared at the giant, hairy creature.

The Pedites Magno clenched its fist, and slammed its fist down, but Shane dodged, and gripped its thick, sweaty wrist, and used the leverage to flip over the creature. He landed on his feet, and clenched his hands, summoning his knuckle brass with spikes, and went to punch it, but he was tackled down by a Canis.

Shane struggled, and kicked the Canis off, watching it fall and flail off with a whine, and turn to smoke. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, his lower back slightly sore, and rubbed his lower back. The Pedites Magno's held it's hand out, palm up, and a small, black light swirled in it's hand, the light transforming into a large, rocky boulder.

The Pedites Magno raised the boulder over Shane's head, and Shane looked up, just as the Pedites Magno brought the boulder down, ready to smash his head in. Ryan's eyes widened in horror, and shook his head. "No!" He yelled, and ran over, tackling Shane out the way, just as the boulder slammed down on the ground, the boulder and ground cracked, and grumbled, as everything shook.

Shane and Ryan spun to the side, away from the Canis and Pedites Magno. Ryan's hands were gently holding Shane's waist, but was holding him securely, and Shane placed his hands on Ryan's shoulders, his hands gentle, yet firm on his shoulder. They were spinning, spinning, spinning. A bright, white and black light engulfed them.

_Opening his eyes, Shane looked around. White, fluffy clouds rolled and floated in the clear, blue sky, the area was large, and open, with what looked like peacefully, calm, serene water on the ground, and white, square, marble like, stepping stones on the floor, lining the water. He paused, seeing Ryan in front of him, also looking around. "Ryan?" He asked, quietly, and shyly, worried._ What's happening? _He thought, helplessly._

_Ryan looked up at Shane, eyes wide, yet very soft, "this is new..."_

_Shane stood straighter in sudden realisation, and now in fear, "is this what it's like to be a... You know... A Fusion?" He asked, shakily._

_Pausing, and thinking, Ryan looked to Shane shyly, "well then, lets see?" He took Shane's hand gently, and placed his other hand on Shane's waist, and automatically, Shane placed his hand on Ryan's shoulder, eyes wide._

_He shook his head, "Ryan, I'm too much..." Shane was uneasy, and tense. Afraid, Ryan had dully noted._

_"If that's the case, I'll Split..." Ryan promised, voice soft, but was also slightly tense. "I won't make you feel small, I promise..." And, Shane trusted him._

_Slowly, they began dancing, step in step, slow and steady, the two uneasy and careful. Shane wasn't much of a dancer, he was more tense, and used his hips more then Ryan, who was more refined, and steady. The two moved closer, and their eyes slowly closed, a small smile slowly forming._

Eyes opened, and blinked. Everything was more defined, and more clear, but then the first thing they noticed was they were slightly taller then Pedites Magno, _I’m taller then seven, ten?_

They clenched their hands, and pulled them apart at the same time, summoning red gauntlets, with spikes in the knuckles, resembling knuckle brasses slightly. The Pedites Magno snarled, and swiped its hand at the Fusions head, but they stopped it, and punched the creature in the head, and the Pedites Magno turned into black smoke.

Canis' snarled, and growled, running at the Fusion attacking them. Instantly, the Fusion grabbed two that jumped at them, and threw them at two others, the four poof into smoke. They dodged one that jumped at their head, fall into a kneel, they gripped a Canis by its tail and pulled it into their fist, and another jumped at their back, but the Fusion kicked it, they both swirled into smoke.

The Fusion backed into a wall, and held up their fists, _should we be calling ourselves me? Him?... It feels right..._ The Fusion thought, as they... No, he... As he punched one Canis, and uppercut another. One attacked him from the front, but he flipped over it as it slammed into the wall, and then kicked another Canis. _This is so easy!_ He thought, eyes wide, and smirked.

A Canis ran at him, and snapped its jaws, teeth baring and glistening, and snapped its jaw at the Fusion. The Fusion held open the Canis jaw, stopping it from snapping, and slammed it into another Canis. He looked to the last few, and ran at them, punching one, dodging teeth and claws, he slammed a Canis into the wall, and kicked another. He fell to his knees, and avoiding a Canis, and turned, swinging his hand, slashing it. He held his fists up, and paused, seeing he was now alone, having won the fight.

Slowly, he tried to walk forward, but he fell down onto his knees. The adrenaline that had seized him had disappeared, and now felt unsure in his body, he pulled himself up, and slowly shuffled out the alley, leaning on the wall to help him. He shuffled to a shitty store, that no doubt had ridiculously priced items that would be a lot cheaper in California, Los Angeles.

He looked into the slightly dusty, and streaky window, that was full of shop window trinkets, blankets, with vases, pots and cheap ornaments. He looked over his body, confused and slowly smiled. He had Ryan's baggy black pants, that looked like Shane's shorts in a way, what with them being bigger, and his sleeveless black vest that had white lining on, and Shane's white muscle shirt covering his arms and neck, with black lining on, his thumbs in the thumb hole. He wore one black boot, with a white rubber sole, and a white boot with a black rubber sole, his bandanna was black with white splattered on. His hair was fluffy, and pushed back, with brown hair, and a few black strands in, he was muscular, and tall, with full lips, and a slight stubble, his nose resembled Shane's, and his skin tone was Ryan's, but the thing that threw him off was his eyes. He has four eyes, both sets where the colours of Shane and Ryan's, hazel and dark brown.

"At least I have four eyes, and no extra limbs..." He mumbled, and noticed, his voice was one. A smooth, like mumble, serious and factual, yet joyous and cheeky. He's his own person! Holy shit, "they actually Fused..."

With this now very shocking, and very real realisation, all four eyes wide, a bright black and white glow surrounded him, and he was spinning. Out of the glow, spinning out and loosing balance, was Shane and Ryan, as they fell on the hard ground, opposite each other, their eyes wide in shock. They stared at the other, eyes shining in worry.

Shane swallowed, and knelt on his knees and hands, "was I too much?" He asked quietly.

Ryan slowly shook his head, "no..." His eyes were soft, "did I hurt you?" He asked, sounding broken, hurt, and worried. _God, please don't tell me I hurt him..._ He thought, freaking out and panicked, that's the last thing he wants, not again, not after Bryan.

Shane reached over gently, and took Ryan's hands gently. Neither of them pulled their hands back, and instead, Ryan tightened his grip on Shane's hands. Shane gently rubbed the pad of his thumb against Ryan's calloused knuckles, "Ryan?" Shane asked, quietly, and Ryan looked at him, to show he was listening. "Spin me again..." Shane asked, eyes soft, begging ever so slightly. _It was so wonderful._ He silently admitted.

Ryan's eyes widened, but then he smiled softly, and nodded. He picked Shane up by his waist, and Shane placed his hands on Ryan's shoulder. Ryan spun Shane, and the two shyly smiling to each other, small and unnoticeable. A black and white glow swirled, and engulfed them, and there stood the Fusion of Shane and Ryan, smiling, all four eyes shut, one hand was down to his side, as if holding a waist, and the other was up next to his face, as if holding a shoulder.

He opened his eyes, and looked in the window. Smiling, he gently traced, and outlined his eyes with the tip of his index finger, _this will probably freak a lot of people out..._ He thought, and turned his head, seeing clothing shop with rather cheap items - Well, cheap for Las Vegas standards. "I need visors..." He said to himself, quietly.

Slowly, he walked to the shop, swaying ever so slightly, his hands out balancing him. He pushed open the shop door, and looked around; It was full, and cluttered with clothes, male, female, unisex. There's hats, shoes, shirts with flowers, button ups, sweaters, cardigans, dresses, jewellery, and finally, visors.

He stumbled over to the visors, gripping the stands to keep himself standing upright. He flicked through the visors, and looked for any that would cover all four if his eyes, hoping for black out visors. This being said, he had to make sure the visors wouldn't clash against his uniform, and found a black and white rimmed, black out visors, and pushed them over his eyes, his four eyes no longer on view for everyone. In a way, it reminded him of sunglasses.

Walking over the store clerk, a brunette female, he smiled, "hi, I'm wearing these to go." He pulled off the tag and handed it over.

The woman stared at him, and he noticed she was staring and chewing pink gum obnoxiously, "right away, sir." She droned, voice sounding bored and dead. She took the tag, and scanned it, "ten dollars." She held out her hand, her sharp nails painted a neon pink with multiple rings on her fingers.

The Fusion handed over the ten dollars, for visors! Honestly, what a rip off! They better be the sturdiest thing to ever exist. He walked out the shop, and while he was annoyed with the price, he had yet to stop smiling. He walked back to the hotel with a wide smile, as he thought about the Pedites Magno that attacked Shane and Ryan.

He walked up the steps of the hotel once he neared, his mind swirling in thought, _Pedites Magno are dangerous. One of the higher dangers in the file... Right?_ He walked into Shane and Ryan's hotel room, and took out Ryan's file.

Sure enough, there it said:

_Pedites Magno - Dangerous, works well with Caprae Homines. Looks like a large 7'10, hairy man._

And he then read about the Caprae Homines:

_Caprae Homines - The most dangerous creature to live. Looks like a man crossed with a goat._

He scratched his head in confusion, as he thought, _did Shane and Ryan figure something out?_ It would make sense as to why a Pedites Magno was there, because Shane and Ryan found something out. But, how can he prove this? _Wait... Ned called Shane._ He realised, and rubbed his neck.

He grabbed Shane's phone, and unlocked it, and he scrolled to Ned's name, and clicked his name. He held Shane's phone to his ear, and waited as the phone rang, but nobody answered, and he frowned. _What the...?_ Immediately, he scrolled to Eugene's name, with the picture identification. It was of Eugene on a black background, head tilted back, lip puckered, and touching his hair. He pressed Eugene's name, and waited as the phone rang, but still got no response as it went to the automated female voice, and so he hung up. _This isn’t going well._ He then tried Keith, and again, clicked, the picture of Keith was him in a yellow crop top, shorts, one arm crossed, and his other hand was held out, finger to his temple, and resting his chin on his hand, and a pink background. Again, he tried calling for man, but also got no response. _Okay, panic time!_

The last person was Zach, and he was panicking now, and he scrolled to Zach. The photo was of Zach, with a green background, he was holding a dinosaur and looking away from it, and held up his hand other hand between the toy and his ear, as if it was whispering something. He pressed the contact, and tapped his foot, panicked, before he found himself pacing the floor.

"Oh, Shane!" Came Zach's voice, and the Fusion sighed in relief, relaxing. "Thank God!" Zach continued, which confused the Fusion.

He frowned, all four eyes squinting in thought, "what?"

"Shane, the others are missing!" Zach explained, "well all met up once Mari and Sara went missing, and we began looking! Ned had the idea to split up, and I didn't want to. I only wanted to stay with my boyfriend—"

The Fusion rolled his eyes, and shook his head, Ned, Keith, Zach and Eugene were all as bad as each other when it came to gushing about their significant other. Especially, when it serious issues, and they got off topic, "Zach, focus please!" The Fusion begged.

Zach paused, as if confused and thrown off, "why's your voice so deep, and serious? I mean... It sounds like you, all mumble-y and high pitched, but not... Like deep, and clear, all serious... Like, when Ryan is going though a case file." He explained, voice thick in confusion.

The Fusion frowned, "uh, well..." He thought, scratching the back of his head, ruffling his hair, and then smiled shyly. "Hi Zach, I'm Shyan..."

"Shane and Ryan Fused?" Zach asked in shock, but he sounded... Happy. He was happy for them.

Shyan smiled, but then frowned, _this is not the time to talk about their Fusion!_ "Zach, you need to leave, and hide."

"No, I can't. I'm going after Eugene!" Zach said, voice determined. "Caprae Homines grabbed him—"

"Where was this?" Shyan asked, cutting Zach off.

Zach frowned, "Eugene was on Ruining Historia Road. And Keith and Ned were on Pupa McPhaulius Street. Why?"

_That surrounds Worth It Street._ Shyan realised, eyes wide, "Zach, you need to leave. Where you are, you're... You need... Zach, you're not exactly in a good place." He said, glancing around, _can people hear me?_

"No, I'm going after Eugene!" Zach yelled angrily, hanging up.

Shyan's eyes widened, slammed Shane's phone down on the bed, "shit!" He yelled in anger, which caused a white, and black glow to engulf him. Shane and Ryan fell out, and onto the bed, away from each other, eyes wide.

Ryan's shock turned to one of annoyance, "fuck! What do we do?!" He yelled, running hands though his hair in anger, pulling and tugging his hair, teeth grinding together.

Shane moved over, and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Ryan, calm down."

"I'm an eternal flame, baby!" Ryan yelled, pulled his arms apart, and slammed his now gauntlet covered hand down, breaking the bedside desk, teeth grinding together.

Shane took his hands, "look, Ryan, deep breaths so we can figure out what to do." Ryan glared, but nodded, his teeth loosening. Shane sighed, "clearly, we figured something out, that's probably why a Pedites Magno was there."

Ryan nodded, and slowly calmed down, "right, Pedites Magno are in Los Angeles, as well as Caprae Homines. That's for sure, but..." He reached over and picked up his file, and his phone, and began his research, face lighting up from his phone. He had an idea.

Shane frowned, and looked to Ryan, and watched as he worked, eyebrows pulled together in concentration, "Ryan..." Ryan hummed as if to say; _I’m listening_ , and Shane said, "we should talk..." _We should talk about Shyan..._

Ryan paused, and looked to Shane, eyes and posture stiff, and opened his mouth to argue against him, because: _Are you stupid? We need to figure out where the fuck these things are coming from! We don't have time to talk about... Shyan..._ Ryan closed his mouth, _Shyan..._ He really should be focusing on the Fancy Boys, and focusing on finding their friend, but... He looked up to Shane, and saw the soft look in his eyes, and he gave Shane a harsh, yet soft look, as if saying, _this isn't the time, Shane._

Shane saw, he saw the silent message, and nodded in agreement, "I know. Trust me, I know there's so much going on, things that we have to focus on, and I know this is really bad timing, but even you know this is important." He said softly, eyes gentle.

_He's right, it is important,_ Ryan thought, looking down at the worn down floor. He nodded, moving closer to Shane, and set his files down, "okay..."

Shane moved closer as well, and the two found themselves falling silent, and awkward, shuffling ever so slightly. Ryan messed with his fingers, and pulled and tugged at them, earning small, and quiet cracks, while Shane tapped his foot, with quiet pats, and worried his lower lip until he tasted something metallic.

Looking up to Ryan, Shane admired the shorter mans profile, he admired the slope of his nose, and chiseled jawline, with those gorgeous dark eyes, the dark eyes he shares with Ryan, as Shyan. "When we Fused..." Shane started, and mentally scolded himself for starting out with the big guns, _bad start, I could've at least built up to it!_ Ryan looked up eyebrow raised, and so, Shane continued, "that was the most... Whole, and liked, I've ever felt..." He admitted shyly, rubbing his neck. "It was warm, and welcoming, and loving... Ryan, I've never felt so _right_..." He was unable to put into words how it felt, but again, Ryan was right. You're not one person, or two, you're an experience.

Ryan nodded, staring at Shane softly. Shane, his entire world at this point, with his slight stubble, and sloth-like eyes, and fluffy hair. He took Shane's hand, in understanding, Fusing is difficult to explain, "Shane, I know what you mean." Shane squeezed his hand, and Ryan noted, Shane's hand fit in his like a glove, "I... You, you're amazing Shane, so amazing..." He admitted, stumbling through his confession, a light blush painting he cheeks, nose, and temples, streaking onto his forehead.

It was as if Shane knew what this 'amazing' confession was, and it was probably a good thing too, because suddenly, Shane reached up, and gently cupped Ryan's cheek with the palm of his hand, caressing his thumb under Ryan's eye softly. "Can I kiss you?" Shane asked, quietly.

Ryan reached his hand up, and gently grasped the back of Shane's neck, "I don't know, Shane..." He whispered, so unsure, and nervous. _This was coming out of nowhere..._

"We've been waiting to do this for seven thousand, eight hundred years, and..." Shane paused in thought, _how many months?_

It seems Ryan read his thoughts, and answered his unspoken question, quietly, "and nine months..."

"And nine months!" Shane repeated, _what a long time to be pining after your 'enemy'._ He dully thought. "Please, let me kiss you..." He begged, if Ryan genuinely didn't want to, he'd back off, and pretend like all this never happened. But, as if his prayers were answered, Ryan nodded, with a small, nervous smile, _yes._

Shane leaned down, his hands running down Ryan's sides to wrap his arms around the mans waist, and Ryan leaned up, his hands and fingers brushing against his pale skin, sliding up into Shane's fluffy hair. They paused, heads titled in the opposite direction of each other, dark brown, and hazel eyes now closed, their breathing soft, and swirling together, but they didn't dare move, a hair strand could fit between their lips given how close they are. Nerves surrounded them, and gripped them, crawling up their spine, and filling their veins. Their hearts were speeding up, thumping fast, and breathing slightly uneven. But, it was Ryan who closed the tiny gap, crashing his soft, full lips, against Shane's thin, chapped lips, lips fitting together. Ryan's lower lip was between Shane's lip, and Shane's up lip was between Ryan's lips, their noses brushing against each others cheeks.

Immediately, they relaxed into each other, and lips began moving, and melding together. It was as if the Heavens opened, and Angels sang, warmth surrounded them, and a Holy Light warming and kissing their skin, warming them. It was soft, and needy, as a pleasant tingle was forming on their hands, and under the skin their hands were placed. Ryan ran his hands through Shane's soft hair, twirling the strands with his index finger, and tugging his hair greedily, and Shane moaned softly, a low groan rumbling though his throat, and Shane pulled Ryan onto his lap, gently digging his long fingers into Ryan's toned waist, and Ryan straddled his waist, legs on each side of Shane's legs, the two pressing against each other, chests flushed together. A full feeling filled his stomach almost, and lips tingling, and moving gently against each other.

Ryan ran his tongue against Shane's chapped lower lip, wetting his lip, and Shane greedily opened his mouth, lowering his tongue, and Ryan pushed his tongue in. Shane moaned slightly, and Ryan explored the warmth, and wet inside of Shane's mouth, running his tongue over Shane's cheeks, and teeth, pressing his tongue against the top of his mouth, enjoying Shane's tongue that ever so slightly battled his, but mainly let Ryan have control, and gripped Ryan's waist, digging his fingers into his skin, possibly bruising the tanned skin, the tight gripped earned a soft moan seeping from Ryan's soft lips, that opened in a perfect ‘o’.

The two pulled away from each other, a string of saliva linking their tongues, lips wet and swollen red, panting slightly, chests heaving, and eyes wide as if seeing stars. Ryan moved his hand to Shane’s face, and caressed the taller mans jawline, "do you think we're going too fast?"

Shane panted, and nodded, eyes softening, "yeah... Yeah, we are. But, seven thousand, and eight hundred years—"

"And nine months." Ryan added, panting, eyes dark.

Shane continued, "and nine months, that we've been after each other. Admit it." He teased, a cheeky smirk gracing his lips.

Ryan leaned up, nodding, and kissed him again, but more soft, and gentle. Shane gently kissed back, sighing and calming down with a smile. Ryan kissed him again, and pulled back, and kissed him again, and again, and again. He kept leaning in, and kissing Shane’s readily puckered lips, receiving quick pecks.

Standing up, Ryan gently pulled Shane up, and pulled him close, hands on Shane's waist, and Shane wrapping his arms wrapping around Ryan's neck, as they began to dance slowly, together.

Ryan was leading, as Shane was so tense, again using his hips more, as he kept glancing to their feet, worried he'd step on Ryan's feet with his white boots, but Ryan stopped him, lifting his head up with his index finger, making Shane and Ryan keep eye contact, but still, Shane's eyes were full of worry.

Dark brown eyes lit up with an idea, and Ryan smiled, and began singing, distracting Shane, _"if I could begin to be, half of what you think of me."_ Shane's eyes widened in shock, as Ryan kept singing, _"I could do about anything, I could even learn how to love."_ They were swaying softly, side to side, and Shane immediately relaxed, eyes softening.

Shane plucked up enough courage to sing as well, relaxing, to keep his mind off their feet, and the possibility of standing on said feet. " _When I see the way you act,"_ Ryan's eyes widened in shock, and smiled, and Shane kept shakily singing. _"Wondering when I'm coming back. I could do about anything, I could even learn how to love like you."_ Ryan spun him, making Shane gasp with a nervous, yet excited smile, as he found his footing in time with Ryan, tightening his grip.

_"I always thought I might be bad, now I'm sure that it's true."_ They sang, Ryan spinning Shane with his hand, and the two smiling. _"'Cause I think you're so good, and I'm nothing like you."_ Shane trailed his hand to Ryan's cheek, and held his face in the palm of his hand gently. _"Look at you go,"_ Ryan's eyes softened, _"I just adore you. I wish that I knew, what makes you think I'm so special."_ Ryan twirled him out ever so slightly, and pulled him back into his grasp.

Shane kept singing, _"if I could begin to do, something that does right by you."_ Shane rested his hands on Ryan's shoulders, as they swayed, _"I would do about anything, I would even learn how to love."_ He leaned down slightly, a smile on his perfect lips (in Ryan's humble opinion).

_"When I see the way you look, shaken by how long it took."_ Ryan sang, his arms wrapping around Shane's waist, his right arm lining Shane's spine and hand holding his upper back. _"I could do about anything, I could even learn how to love like you."_ He smiled, softly, eyes gleaming.

_"Love like you, love me like you."_ They sang, and Ryan dipped him, and Shane pulled him down into a kiss, arms wrapping around Ryan's neck.

Ryan gripped Shane's hips, and Shane gripped Ryan's shoulders. Ryan lifted him, and spun him, kissing him still, and the two began giggling and laughing, and wore large smiles painted on their lips, a bright white and black light mixing and engulfing them. Spinning, an arm around his chest, and the other around his waist, Shyan stood there, laughing and lips puckered into a kiss, before he was just smiling, "I don't want this to end..."

Shyan smiled, and lay on the double bed, grinning, hoping to be able to stay the night. It felt nice, like he was whole, like he was loved, as if he was one. A whole new experience, that felt perfect, as if the world had finally fallen into place, and settled, and stilled. 

Ryan's phone pinged, well... More like gave a warped noise. He sighed, letting his arms fall down and slouch. _Can’t I catch a break?_ He thought, as he reached over, and saw the phone was still unlocked, screen facing up, he saw the notification was from the app Curly made. He opened the notification, and noticed it had spotted what Ryan was looking for; Caprae Homines activity. They were swarming Inenarratus Headquarters.

Shyan sat up quickly, eyes wide, as his chest leaped into his throat.

"Holy shit..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inenarratus - Latin (google translate) - Unsolved  
> Canis - Latin (google translate) - Dog  
> Caprae Homines - Latin (google translate) - Goat Men  
> Pedites Magno - Latin (google translate) - Big Foot  
> Historia - Latin (google translate) - History  
> Pupa - Latin (google translate) - Puppet  
> Phaulius - Latin (google translate) - Nasty
> 
> I totally used Ned's Instagram profile picture as Ned's caller picture. And I did that with Keith, Eugene and Zach's called pictures too.
> 
> Song use: Love Like You - Rebecca Sugar - Steven Universe (also found out this was on TikTok, and now all I can think about a) Unus Annus and b) Shane and Ryan singing this to their girlfriends. This always makes everything much harder, because I feel an overwhelming amount of guilt.)


	4. the sudden theory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: There is sex in this chapter, but you can skip that section. I'll page break it with my usual '~~~~~' but it's bold. It starts just after Shane offers to shower with Ryan, together. It finishes with my usual '~~~~~' but it's bold, when they're just brushing their teeth. I ALSO HAVE SAID WHEN IT STARTS AND WHEN IT ENDS IN THE CHAPTER. As said, you can skip it, it adds nothing really, just for people who might want it. Just think of it as bonding.
> 
> Tags for Sex Scene: Shower Sex, Wall Sex, Nipple Kink/Play, Body Worshipping, Back Scratching, Mutual Jerking Off, Hickey's, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, No Condoms But Still Safe 
> 
> If you do like that sort of stuff, please read it, I tried so hard. I don't like writing sex scenes that much, like sometimes I do, others I don't, and this was one of those times where I was just not for it, but I know people liked it, and I tried to make it steamy, and detailed, please read - if not, like I said, skip it! God, writing that made me so uncomfortable.

Pacing back and forth, his boot covered feet quietly thudding against the carpet, as he held his chin in thought with his right hand. Shyan was pacing the hotel room, his mind swimming and whirling in a panicked haze, and sharp, pointed fear, no doubt a pulsing, and throbbing headache forming, engulfing his head. A tight knot at the back and base of his head, and neck formed. _The villains have surrounded, and are swarming Inenarratus Headquarters..._ Shyan noted, as he ran his long fingers though his fluffy, yet somehow product styled hair, fingers getting sticky from said products, _it makes sense!_ He realised, Ryan really _was_ onto something. Those creatures _do_ get more dangerous as the 'heroes' got closer to the Fancy Boys. Which means that, _Inenarratus is in danger..._ Shyan grimaced in horror, worrying his lower lips, which also means these Fancy Boys have taken over the Headquarters! _But, who are they?!_ Shyan thought, helplessly, and dragged his hands down his cheeks.

None of them, (as in Shane, Ryan and Shyan), where even sure if the Fancy Boys were even male, it was just a nickname Shane came up with! They could be girls! Or Non-Binary! Or... Or whatever other genders are out there! - Shane and Ryan are trying to keep up, they truly are, and fully support the LGBTQ+ community, (Hell, they're gay!), they don't want to be disrespectful, but it's hard keeping track of everything, especially when you've been alive for over seven thousand years! They're old, give them a break! But, they enjoy learning, and are glad to show support, and cancel dicks who don't support people!

_It's not Sara and Mari._ He thought, pacing back and forth, rubbing the side of his jaw, and closed his eyes thinking. He was now back on track for these Fancy Boys. _Can't be, they've been kidnapped, there's proof, there's a video. It's not The Try Guys..._ Shyan thought, with a frown, remembering, _Zach called and was in a panic, and Ned tipped Shane about Mara..._ He realised. He fell onto the bed with a deep sigh, on his back, the bed creaked and groaned, rattling under his weight and force. He shoved his hands into his pockets, and looked to the ceiling, looking at the bubbles growing in the ceiling and paint. _Andrew and Steven need to know their top workers are missing!_ Shyan suddenly realised, all four eyes wide in shock and horror.

Quickly, he reached out, leaning over, and grabbed Shane's phone. He sat up, back straight, and he opened the phone. Quickly, he scrolled through the names, and stopped at; _Boss Man Stevie_ , with the picture of him on a pale pink background, and a black, _Fedora_ hat, grey shirt, and staring at the camera with a slight smile. He went to pressed the call button, but paused, his thumb hovering over the said button, something stopping him. He dully noted that that something was probably Ryan, possibly pausing in their dancing, gently and carefully talking to Shane, taking a little control in the situation. But, it didn't feel bad, it was comforting, _not like Bryan._ He swallowed, as he realised, that this whole situation didn't make sense. Again, this was Ryan's doing, but Shane fully agreed, equal control back, though equal control was never really taken.

_Why did these 'Fancy Boys' not go for his bosses, if they're always around Headquarters...?_ Shyan thought to himself, frowning. _His bosses know more about their case more then Mari, Sara and The Try Guys..._ He thought in confusion, rubbing his hair, brushing it forward, and into his top set of eyes, blocking their view. Visors blocking the strands from poking said eyes. Steven and Andrew would know about Marielle and Sara, and _they_ would have told Shane and Ryan. _Maybe that's why they've attacked Headquarters?_ No, no doubt word would have spread about Steven and Andrew if they were hurt, attacked or missing... These creatures have attacked Headquarters, yet there's no word on the bosses, or if they're in danger. Shyan stopped squinting, and his eyes widened, a frown on his face, as his lips slowly pulled into a frown, _Steven and Andrew know more about this case..._ He thought, thinking about his bosses, about every logical thing he had thought of. That was Shane, gently taking control of their dancing, and Ryan let him.

Horror and realisation set in, as if being punched in his face, as what felt led set on his muscles, his stomach was turning and flipping, and churning, a swirl of dread mixed with fear lined his stomach. He felt red hot, burning bile and acid seep up in his throat, and his face drained of all colour, white as a sheet of paper. A wash of, what he could only describe as ice cold water, came over him in large waves, and big buckets, "Steven and Andrew are the Fancy Boys." He realised, gasping slightly in horror.

Shooting up, he trekked and paced the small room again, fast and practically stomping around, doing rounds in the room, no doubt wearing the carpet and floor down, maybe he'd accidentally break it, he definitely has faded the carpet. He wrapped his hands around he back of his neck, headache worsening, _no, no, no! That can't be right!_ He thought frantically, all four eyes wide in terror, his pupils shrinking into tiny black beads, this wasn't right! How could it be?! It can't be! Steven and Andrew are the bosses! They're 'heroes', they want what's good for the world! Shyan shook his head, then hissed in pain, brain shaking and rattling in his head. He began rubbing and massaging his neck, kneading the skin and muscles, soothing the pain and ache. Realistically, the reasoning and answers were all there. This was Shane and Ryan coming through, gently stopping the dancing, and gently shared control, and both Shane and Ryan let the other do it. _Steven and Andrew would send everyone away, so they could plan everything meticulously, and when people began finding out, he could get rid of the 'heroes'._ But, why? Equal control was the best feeling in the world, though like said, it was not like Bryan. _Because, they're not fancy. They don't have powers. And these 'heroes' that are stopping them, we all know right and we know wrong._ Shyan answered his question, and frowned.

Shyan decided to wait a while before he did anything to Steven and Andrew, or anything to Headquarters. He _needed_ to think of a plan, he _needed_ to get an idea of what to do in this awful situation, not just rush in, plan-less, with fists out, brass knuckles, gauntlets, mixed or not out, and blindly attack, as if a beginning 'hero'. That's the worst thing he could possibly do! That's when Ryan's voice came in though his head, loud a clear, talking to Shane calmly while dancing, _lets get kidnapped, and fight our way to the top!_

"What?!" Shyan yelled, out loud, in shock, all four eyes wide, as he stopped pacing. A black and white glow covered him, wrapping around him, like a blanket. Suddenly, the Fusion Split, Shane and Ryan on each side of where Shyan had previously stood in the room, and they grunted slightly, hitting the floor, bruising their backs, and eyes glazed over in a confused daze.

Shane could now see how easy it would be for Marielle and Sara to be kidnapped after Splitting in sudden shock. He rubbed his eyes, squinting his eyes, as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, shoulders sagging and Ryan was no better. Ryan covered his head with his arms, looking down at the floor, eyes red, sore and dry, his back hunched over, and felt sick almost. And Shane realised, _sudden Splits, especially ones that feel as amazing as ours, leave you in this sudden, sick daze... Holy shit..._

Shane realised it was his fault for the sudden Split, and he felt awful. But, he was in shock! Ryan had the worst idea in the world, _it can't work! Can it?_ He looked to Ryan, mouth open in a shocked 'o', "are you crazy?" He asked, eyes wide, voice in slight horror, "that's not safe..." He reasoned, and shuffled over, his voice was now small, "Ryan, we'll die." Ryan looked down, a deep, sad sigh escaping his lips, and Shane lifted his chin up with his curled index finger. "Ryan, baby, we will die. The evidence is all pointing to Steven and Andrew."

"Yeah, but it's just a theory." Ryan reasoned, and took Shane's spare hand, fingers wrapping around the mans hand. He sounded so unsure, and so nervous. It was as if he didn't believe their theory, as if he didn't believe _his own_ theory, _Steven's my friend... He's not the bad guy, he can't be!_ Ryan thought, breathing shaky. He didn't want to believe his theory, he didn't want to believe his friend is one of the Fancy Boys.

Shane gently moved his hands up, and held Ryan's cheeks in the palms of his hands, and caressed his thumbs under his eyes. He leaned down, and gently pressed his forehead against Ryan's softly, "Ryan... Our theory _has_ to be right... It has to be..." Ryan sighed, and leaned into Shane's warmth and comfort, and immediately moved from Shane's forehead, and to his chest. He cuddled into the taller mans chest, sighing, slightly more happy, and began listening to Shane's soft heart beat, and closed his eyes, relishing the comfort. Shane held him close, arms wrapping around his waist, and his fingers gently caressing the smaller mans hips, and right then and there he knew he'd do whatever Ryan wanted. "we'll figure a way to get back to Los Angeles, alright? We can stop them together..." Shane promised, _I'll do whatever you asks of me..._ And he would, he will. If Shane's being honest, if Ryan said 'jump off a cliff', he'd ask 'which cliff' and jump instantly. Anything Ryan would say, he'd tease him - sure, but he'll back the man up. Anything Ryan asked of him, he'd do it, instantly.

Ryan smiled lightly, relaxing more, and wrapped his arms around Shane's back, his hands coming up, and wrists crossing over each other, as he gently gripped Shane's shoulders. He slowly opened his eyes, glad that Shane agreed, and backed up his rather shit plan, even _he_ knew his plan was shit, but it was his only idea he had, and Andrew and Steven (if it is them), probably wouldn't expect it. But then, Ryan realised something, and he frowned in confusion and annoyance, "shit, I forgot the only way to get back to Inenarratus, is when we're done with this fuckin' Mission..." He said, _something that always happened. We'd get a plane ticket, and be driven home after the Mission was over._ Ryan thought, squinting, remembering how all Missions are ended.

"How do they figure out when we're done with Missions?" Shane asked, confused, grip loosening on Ryan ever so slightly. He's never thought about this before, but now that Steven and Andrew could be the Fancy Boys... "I mean, how do they know what's going on?" Marielle and Sara being kidnapped, The Try Guys have been kidnapped... _If it is Steven and Andrew, how would they know that the Girls and The Try Guys knew something?_ Shane thought, looking down to Ryan in confusion.

Ryan looked up, grip loosening as well, and he grinned playfully, "maybe they bugged our room?" He joked, smiling with his bright teeth on show, "and snipers are trained on our location!" Ryan called out, quietly, voice in mock fright. Shane wheezed quietly, smiling, as he pressed his face into Ryan's hair, and Ryan joined in, laughing and wheezing, and cuddled into Shane's chest.

They suddenly stopped laughing, as if a switch was flipped, dumping a bucket of harsh reality on them. Darkly, they both realised, _there is clearly a way that Steven and Andrew find out about our Missions, and what happens in them, and when they end. And maybe...?_

"It might be true..." Ryan said, his lips pulling into a tense frown, "and, maybe there're spies, as well."

Shane tightened his grip again immediately, and looked around the room as if looking for said snipers, and camera and microphones, tense again. He looked to Ryan, and moved his hands up to Ryan's hands, and gently held them, the smaller mans hands fitting into Shane's perfectly, and he caressed Ryan's calloused knuckles with the pads of his thumbs, "let's just get ready for bed, and act like nothings happened." He whispered, voice tense, and worried, his breathing harsh.

Ryan nodded, and looked to the bathroom, and then back to Shane, "we need showers..." He said, and as if proving a point, reach up, and curled a strand of Shane's dirty, and sweat covered hair with his index finger. He then cupped the taller mans face, hands holding Shane's warm, and soft cheeks, "Shane, I don't want to let you out of my sight." _I can't let you get hurt..._ He silently said, his eyes soft, and worried.

Shane thought, and then slowly smirked. He leaned down, "then lets go shower." He gently pressed his lips to Ryan's, then slowly pulled back, his dry lips sticking to Ryan's slightly, "together." He added, voice husky, and deep.

Ryan grinned, eyes glazing over with a dark sheet of lust, and looked at Shane, eyes half lidded, "lets go."

**~~~~~ Sex Starts ~~~~~**

Ryan all but pulled Shane into the small bathroom, his hand, and fingers laced with Shane's fingers, and if Shane was being honest he was shocked his arm didn't pop out of his socket. But, Shane was more excited to see Ryan naked, practically putty in his hands, hopefully.

Throwing opened the door, not caring that it slammed against the door with a loud bang, Ryan pulled Shane in, and Shane followed, just as quickly, "wait." Ryan looked at him, eyebrow raised. Shane frowned, "think there's a camera in here?" He said, looking around the room, as he wrapped Ryan in his arms, his arms around his waist.

Ryan relaxed, no longer needy, and thought. He leaned into Shane's warm embrace, and happily pressed his face into Shane's soft chest, arms wrapping around Shane's back, "I don't think so, I mean... There has to be a limit to what they see. I mean, who wants to watch us take a dump?" Ryan joked, a grin on his lips, and Shane laughed, a bright smile on his face.

Shane then readily kicked the door shut with his left foot, and the door slammed loudly against the frame. He locked the door, sliding the silver bolt lock into place, and then turned the silver thumbturn lock with a quiet click, "you sure you wanna shower with me?" He asked, voice soft, and no longer husky. He wouldn't make Ryan do something he didn't want to do. "Do this with me, I mean..." Shane clarified, kicking his foot against the white tiled floor, the rubber squeaking against tiles.

Smiling softly, Ryan reached up and caressed Shane's cheek, _that's sweet._ He leaned up on the tips of his toes, his hand gently, and slowly moving to the back of Shane's neck. He gently kissed Shane's jawline, from near his ear, and to the front of his jawline, relishing how soft Shane's skin was against his lips, and Shane closed his eyes, taking a small intake of air. Ryan pressed a soft kiss to Shane's chin, and Shane's lips parted slightly, his arms wrapping around the smaller mans waist, leaning down. Wrapping his arms around Shane's neck, Ryan planted his lips onto Shane's.

Shane relaxed, and pulled Ryan against him, chest to chest. Their heads turned to the side, opposite from each other, pressing their lips together, harshly. Ryan licked Shane's lower lip with his tongue, wetting the dry, cracked lip, and Shane readily opened his mouth, allowing Ryan to greedily push his tongue in. His thick, wet tongue moved around, and roaming and searching Shane's warm, soft mouth, the inside of his cheeks, his teeth, and tongue, and Shane allowed him, humming in content, and he wrapped his thumbs around the waistband of Ryan's shorts.

With one quick tug, his thumb also catching Ryan's boxers, Ryan was now pant-less. Shane pulled back, taking a sharp intake of air, and Ryan panted slightly, his tongue out, relishing the trail of saliva that glistened in the artificial light of the bathroom. Unable to keep his gaze on Ryan's eyes, as his curiosity peaked, he glanced down, and almost fell to his knees, because _holy fuck, he's huge!_

It didn't escape Ryan, and her smirked smugly, seeing Shane's eyes widen, his cheeks flush, and stare hungrily at his dick. He held Shane's face, and made him look to his face, "shower?"

Shane's brain started up, and immediately stripped off his clothes, hopping slightly as he pulled his boots off, he didn't even register that Ryan had moved to the shower, and turned it on, getting the shitty hotel water warm. He viciously pulled off his muscle shirt, and shorts, and threw them to the side, and he did the same with his bandanna, the clothing now in a crumpled pile on the floor near the toilet. He turned to Ryan, and paused, seeing his clothes off, and Ryan looked to him.

Staring, Shane noted every inch of Ryan, greedily eating him up. Ryan has muscles of a Greek God, large, and bulging, they always bulged from his vest, but this was so different, he has strong, well toned and defined abs and pecs, that look like if you punch them, Ryan wouldn't feel a thing. Dark nipples hardened on his chest, and Shane could not wait to bite said nipples, as a rumour surfaced that Ryan has a nipple kink. Ryan's legs and thighs were well toned, and defined, but Shane was more interested in Ryan's well toned, and plumped arse, his large, thick, vein covered cock that stood out proudly, and his now apparent new kink; Ryan's muscular, and thick arms, with Ryan's calloused, well worked hands around Shane's throbbing cock.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." Ryan teased, voice husky, and cocky, a lust filled grin on his face, eyes dark, riddled with greed and hunger; for Shane. But, Ryan was no better, he too was staring at Shane, mouth dry, and cock twitching. Shane's tall, oh so fucking tall, with long, skinny, yet well defined legs, that almost looked dainty, always peeking from his shorts, but not enough. He has small muscles, but was rather round at the stomach, not fat, and not even chubby, just not toned like Ryan, but liked a bit off food. Pale nipples, and large, smooth hands, and well rounded arse. But, he was more focused on Shane's long, thick, twitching cock, that was hard, with a slight curved, between his legs. Ryan swallowed, discovering a new kink; Shane's legs.

Shane leaned down quickly, and captured Ryan's lips into a kiss, and Ryan kissed back, arms wrapping around Shane's neck, and Shane's arms wrapped around his waist. He backed Ryan up into the shower, and then against the cold, slightly damp wall, eliciting a quiet gasp from Ryan. Taking the opportunity, Shane pushed his tongue into Ryan's open mouth, and revelled in the warmth, swirling his tongue around, roaming everything his tongue could reach, and Ryan raised his leg, grinding his knee and thigh against Shane's dick, relishing the low groans he received.

The water splashed, and hit their dirty, grimy skin, and soaked their matted hair. The shower really is small, like a tiny one by one box, but it was the only safety the two had from possible prying eyes.

Ryan pushed himself closer to Shane, dragging his nails down his pale back, and Shane moaned into their heated, and rough kiss, his tongue coming to a halt before continuing, eyes scrunching shut, his dick twitching in response. He did it again, from Shane's shoulder blade to his perfectly rounded arse cheeks, and Shane moaned louder, pulling back from Ryan's swollen, and slightly kissed bruised lips, the string of saliva being washed away with the lukewarm, hotel shower water.

"You keep that up, I'm gonna loose it before we've done anything." Shane admitted, looking down at Ryan. His voice was deep, and husky, filled with lust, and somehow already wrecked in as if he's been sucking Ryan's dick for hours. His cock ached at the thought, God, what he'd do to suck Ryan off, and taste him, but this is their first time being intimate, so they'll have to build up.

A husky, deep chuckle sounded from Ryan's throat, and he leaned up, kissing the fleshy section, between Shane's neck and shoulder, "have we unlocked a new kink?" He teased, voice rough, and scratchy, as he gently bit the flesh. Shane gasped, and pulled Ryan closer if that was possibly, their cocks brushing tips, and the two moaned lowly, Ryan's nails digging into Shane's back.

To bring the two closer, Shane wrapped one of his long leg around Ryan's waist, earning a moan from both of them again, as their cocks were now flushed against the other, and trapped between their stomachs, which paused them in their activities. Shane and Ryan glanced to each other. Ryan looked up at him through thick, black eyelashes and half lidded, and Shane looked down, eyes nearly closed, eyelashes brushing against his flushed cheeks, it seemed to dawn on them; _this is really happening..._

Ryan immediate went back to kissing Shane's neck, and lightly biting his neck, earning quiet gasps, and pants, until Shane let out a moan. Pausing, Ryan's teeth hovered over the left side, in the middle of Shane's neck, and Shane's legs tightened around Ryan, feeling Ryan's hot, soft breath, tickling his neck, and felt his lips pull up into a cocky smirk, with teeth brushing against his skin. Teeth bit down into Shane's neck, and Shane felt his skin being sucked, and he moaned loudly, his voice echoing the room, and bounced off the walls, mixing with the harsh pitta patter of harsh shower water.

He kept moving his lips, and kissed, and sucked the flesh on Shane's neck, all the hickey's he was leaving clustered around Shane's sweet spot. Shane kept moaning, his voice kept getting louder, echoing, as he threw his head back, slamming his head against wet wall, hair sticking against the wall. Ryan hasn't even touched him, _holy fuck, he hasn't even touched me!_ Shane thought, panting, chest heaving.

"Ryan," Shane moaned, feeling Ryan's sharp teeth sink into his pale flesh.

Pulling back, Ryan smirked, admiring his work, as if a piece of art. He pressed harsh kisses against the hickeys he gave Shane, enamoured by the bright red, and light pink love bites, and teeth marks he left on Shane's pale, pasty, white neck. It reminded him of _Riikka Hyvönen_ beautiful, and inspiringartwork of _Roller Derby_ bruises, bruises against skin. It's so beautiful, and possessive, all his work left on Shane's neck, and Shane's all is.

Shane panted, eyes glazed over and leaned down, and kissed Ryan's chest, his lips brushing against Ryan's tanned, soft skin. Ryan's breathing hitched, and he dug his nails into Shane's back. He kissed Ryan's skin, biting ever so slightly, and gently sucking, until finally, his tongue lapped against Ryan's hard nipple, and Ryan moaned loudly, scratching Shane's back, "Shane!" Chuckling, his voice thick, Shane bit his dark bud, and sucked ever so slightly, _at least it confirmed one theory._ He pulled the nipple slightly, teeth digging into Ryan's nipple, and Ryan moaned loudly.

He wrapped his bulging, strong arms under Shane's well defined, long legs, under his thighs. He lifted Shane up, and he roughly pressed Shane's back against the cold wall, and Shane moaned, lips and teeth pulling from Ryan's nipple, and pressed his head against the wall. Shane readily wrapped his long legs around Ryan's well defined waist, and Ryan moaned, pressing himself against Shane. They looked at each other, Shane now trapped between the wall, and Ryan moved one hand under Shane's thighs, the other arm now resting against the wall, above Shane's head.

Shane panted, and placed his hands on Ryan's broad shoulders, then he dragged his hands down Ryan's arms, and gently squeezed his muscles, tracing his biceps, breath shaky, and his left hand moved to Ryan's large, throbbing cock, his long fingers wrapping around his base. Ryan moaned, as Shane's hand moved up, and down, slightly swirling his hand around Ryan's cock. Moaning, Ryan moved his arm, and caressed Shane's legs, and thigh with his hand, rubbing his leg, and then held Shane's cock, his fingers wrapping around his cock, and began pumping slowly, and Shane moaned, and buries his head into Ryan's shoulder.

Ryan's cock was warm, and thick, his skin was smooth, and he traced Ryan's vein, earning quiet gasps, and low moans from Ryan, "Shane, oh Shane..." He gasped, chest pressing against Shane's.

He tightened his grip around Shane's smooth, hard cock, his thumb brushing over the tip of the taller mans wet dick, and Shane moaned quietly, voice muffled by Ryan's shoulder, "Ryan, fuck..."

Ryan gently tapped Shane's hand, and Shane stopped, letting go. The two pressed their cocks together, flushed against each other, their bases brushing together, and Ryan acted quickly, and got his hand around both of them, squeezing.

“Oh, oh—!" Shane choked out, and got with the program rather quickly. He wrapped his hand partly over Ryan’s, so that they were both touching each other, slipping hot and wet against each other.

"Holy fuck!" Ryan moaned, and Shane gasped.

The two moaned in unison, voices mixing together, and bouncing off the walls, drowning out the water loudly hitting the tub. They tightened their grips around their cocks in unison, and they pressed their lips together, the two moaning into the kiss. The kiss was harsh, and their teeth clashed together, smashing and clicking. They pumped their hands together, moving their hands up and down, and they moaned into each others mouths, with Ryan biting Shane's lower lip.

"Ryan!" Shane moaned into Ryan's mouth, voiced muffled, water dripping on their lips.

Ryan pulled his hand from their cocks, and went to spit on his fingers, but Shane stopped him. Shane wrapped his fingers around Ryan's wrist, and pulled his hand up, he gently kissed Ryan's fingertips, and wrapped his lips around Ryan's fingers. He lapped his tongue around Ryan's fingers, sucking them, licking every ridge, such as his wrinkled, prune fingers, wetting them, using his spit as lube.

He let Ryan's hand go, and wrapped his hand around their cocks again. Ryan moved his hand to Shane's arse, and squeezed his left arse cheek, earning a quiet gasp. He moved his hand, and looked to Shane, "are you sure, baby? We can stop..." Ryan said, his index finger brushing against Shane's arsehole.

Shane gasped, as he spat on his hand, and wrapped his hand on Ryan's cock, and began spreading his spit for lube, "I'm sure..." Shane responded, and he tried to loosen his anus.

Ryan nodded, and moaned, feeling Shane's hand pump, and twist around his cock. Ryan gently, and carefully, pushed one finger into Shane, and Shane's attempt a loosening his arse was in vain, as immediately, his muscles clenched around Ryan's finger. Shane gasped, and gritted his teeth, freezing, and Ryan paused, waiting until Shane gave him the okay. Swallowing, Shane slowly breathed out, and nodded. Ryan pressed his face into the crook of Shane's neck, and slowly moved his singular digit, in and out, twisting slightly, he was slow and steady, allowing Shane to get used to the feeling.

Tense, and gasping, Shane slowly began his task of jerking the strong male off, and lubricating Ryan's cock with his spit - Really, shower sex (as hot as it his) did make spit lubrication pretty hard to do, the water just kept washing it off. Ryan moaned softly, kissing Shane's neck as he added another finger in, slowly, gently stretching Shane, thrusting his two digits, his fingers caressing, and feeling the ridges, and bumps in Shane's arse, his fingertips caressing the sensitive skin. Shane whined quietly, and tightened his grip on Ryan's cock, earning a moan from the smaller man, again Shane tightened his grip, silently commanding him; _another!_

Ryan seemed to understand what Shane was asking, and added a third digit. Shane groaned, and moved his hand around Ryan's dick, feeling Ryan's fingers thrust, and twist, spreading his fingers ever so slightly, and he could orgasm just hearing Ryan's needy moans as he pumped his hands. Shane was no better, as he too was moaning, all needy and greedy, "fuck, Ryan... Please!" Ryan looked up, eyes dark, _Jesus Christ_ , they're black! Shane moaned out, loud, and begging, "please, fuck me, Ryan!"

Slowly, Ryan removed his fingers, and lifted Shane up, and pressed his cock against the slightly warm wall, and lowered Shane down, the tip of his cock brushing against Shane's arsehole, and the two gasped, letting out quiet, short, needy moans. Ryan looked up to Shane, "are you sure, baby?"

"Darlin', please..." Shane begged, whimpering.

Ryan grinned, and pushed his spit, makeshift lubed up, cock into Shane, lowering Shane down. Shane gasped, tearing up slightly, gripping Ryan's shoulders, and Ryan paused, panting, allowing Shane to get used to his size and thickness. Panting, Shane nodded, and was lowered onto Ryan completely, his legs tightening around Ryan's waist, with Shane's cock sandwiched between them, and Ryan panted, his cock engulfed by Shane's warmth, relishing in Shane's wet, stretched, and warm hole. But, he paused again, allowing Shane to get comfortable.

He panted, and sighed, chest heaving, and bit his lower lip, and nodding; _I'm ready._ Shane grinned, and luckily, Ryan understood him. Ryan slowly began thrusting up, slow and steady, and with the first thrust; Shane and Ryan moaned in unison. Ryan was slow, and Shane tightened around Ryan's thick cock, and he moved his hands to Ryan's chest, the pads of his thumbs circling his nipples, and Ryan moaned louder, and dug his nails into Shane's back, dragging his nails down his back. He kept thrusting into Shane, and moaned with each thrust, and swirl of Shane's thumbs, Shane tightened and loosened around Ryan's cock, and moaned with each thrust, and drag of his nails.

"Faster," Shane moaned. Ryan slammed into Shane suddenly, and Shane moaned loudly, and slammed his head against the tiled wall with a loud thud, his hair sticking to it, his back arched as Ryan's hand wrapped around his cock, and pumped. Ryan sped up, thrusting into Shane harder, and skin slapping against skin, as Ryan suddenly hit his prostate.

Shane moaned loudly, almost a scream, and whine, almost a gasp in a way. The noise didn't exist, Shane's sure, and if he cared about anything other then Ryan fucking his brains out, he'd care, but he didn't, "fuck, Ryan! I-I-I'm gonna... Gonna..."

"I know, s-so am I," Ryan moaned, he pulled out, and pressed his and Shane's cock together, and theirs hands went to their cocks, and began rubbing, panting and moaning, lips crashing together, and Shane's tongue now in Ryan's mouth, their moans muffled. Ryan released his hot, white, sticky cum first, "Shane!" His seed spread on his and Shane's hands, and then Shane followed, his load twice as much, white, sticky cum mixing with Ryan's, "oh, Ryan!"

They panted, and let go of their cocks, and Ryan slowly lowered Shane down on his shaky legs. Shane turned them, and pinned Ryan to the wall, and kissed him roughly, his arm resting, pressed against the wall over Ryan's head, and Ryan's hands rested on his waists. Shane pulled back, "shower?" He asked, breath shaky.

"Shower." Ryan nodded, panting.

**~~~~~ Sex Ends ~~~~~**

Shane and Ryan stood in front of the steamed mirror, Ryan was dressed in his boxers, and Shane was in his boxers and a loose, white, baggy shirt. Their skin and hair now dry, and no longer smelled like sex, sweat, and no longer covered in grime and dirt, they were clean, and shampooed, of course, after their _fun_.

Shane stood behind Ryan with a gentle smile, and Ryan was brushing his teeth, Shane wrapped his arms around Ryan's waist securely, and grabbed his toothbrush, and began brushing his teeth. He looked into the mirror, and looked at Ryan through the mirror, pausing for just a second, seeing Ryan look at him through the mirror, and his eyes softened as they continued with brushing his teeth.

He liked this, the calmness after their activities, and how Ryan leaned into his hold, relaxing into his chest. He looked at them again through the mirror, and smiled, enjoying how different they were. He enjoyed their height difference, how tall he is, and how short Ryan is ("I'm average, you mother fucker!" Shane could practically hear Ryan yell.), and he loved their muscle difference with Shane being rather lanky, and Ryan basically chiselled by the Gods. He loved pale he was and how tanned Ryan was. In his eyes, it was perfect.

In the mirror, he admired Ryan's red, swollen and bruised, kissed lips, and his red, turning purple nipples, and his chest slightly red with hickeys, he spat the toothpaste out with a grin.

Ryan also spat out the toothpaste, and watched Shane closely, his eyes soft and fond. Shane's lips were bruised and swollen, and his neck was an artwork of red, and blue hickeys covered his white, pasty neck, and admired the red, scratched nail marks that were left down his white back, and he looked to Shane, hands cupping his cheeks, and pulled him down into a kiss, and Shane kissed back with a grin, pulling back slowly.

Shane frowned, looking to he door in distaste, "we have to go out there..."

Ryan looked over, and held Shane close, "I know..."

"What if there are camera's and such?" Shane whispered, holding Ryan close, and Ryan held him close as well.

"Let's go out there, and go to sleep, as if we haven't discovered anything." Shane offered, letting go of Ryan's waist, and moving to the door, unlocking it.

Ryan nodded, and kissed Shane's back, between his shoulder blades, through his shirt, "right, I'm not letting you go tonight."

Shane chuckled, "I'd be offended if you did." He opened the door slowly, and the two walked out, now holding hands. Ryan turned off the bathroom light, the entire hotel room was now engulfed in a blanket of darkness, and Ryan held Shane close by his waist.

Shane led the way to the double bed, and laid down on his back, pulling Ryan with him. Ryan fell on top of him with a giggle, and cuddled into his chest, ear pressed against his heart, and Shane wrapped his arms around Ryan's waist with a small smile, pulling the duvet over them. It would be a rather sweet moment, had their fear of camera's, microphones and spies not gripped them, wrapping around their hearts, and seeping into their veins.

~~~~~

It was a long, endless, restless night, of harsh tossing and quick turning, with loud, uncomfortable shuffling, and nervous, tense jitters, with tightening grips of protective fingertips. The duvet, and now clothes were drenched in panicked sweat, that had turned cold, and was thrown off of their tops halves slightly, yet twisted, wrapped and locked around their legs - How that happened, they have no idea.

They woke up early that morning, not by one of their obnoxious alarms blaring in their ears, or the natural, bright sunlight that seeped in through the curtains that were open a crack, or even the rowdy, car, busy, chattering filled streets of Las Vegas, but instead, it was their sheer panic, and fear of how much the Fancy Boys (possibly Steven and Andrew) knew.

At some point in the night they had switched cuddle positions, completely. Ryan was on his back, awake, and staring down softly at the fluffy hair on his chest in adoration, his hands possessively, and protectively holding onto the slightly pudgy waist, and Shane's head was resting on Ryan's well toned chest, listening to his heartbeat, of course he had to shuffle down for this, but it was a good way to wake up. Would be the best way to wake up, had it not been for the life threatening circumstances.

As if a switch was flipped in Shane's head, Shane grew tense; remembering that people out here were trying to kill them. He looked at Ryan, his eyes shining and lapping with dark pools of worry, and Ryan looked down, now just as tense and worried as him, eyes hard and jittery. Ryan glanced around the room, paranoid and for good reason, but then he whispered, "what do we do?" His voiced was hushed, barely above a whisper, and he feared Shane didn't hear him.

Burying his face in Ryan's well toned chest, he whispered back, voice muffled by Ryan's chest, "I don't know..." He admitted, and it fell silent again, both of them thinking about the next plan of action. _What can we do?_ Shane thought, helplessly, his brain on shutdown, fear overriding his casual, and logical thinking.

Ryan buried his head in Shane's fluffy, bed head, messed hair, and closed his eyes rather content, taking a quiet, yet still deep breath of air, relaxing, as he smelled Shane's aroma, taking him in again; fruit roll-ups, and for some reason vinegar - but not in a gross or bad way! It's very light compared to the fruit roll-ups. He also smelled like nature, like wild animals, maybe that's because of his damn cat - or well son, Obi.

"Maybe we can pack up," Shane mumbled quietly, taking an deep intake of Ryan's men's deodorant, _Bulldog Lemon Bergamot Natural Deodorant._ Shane dully noted, yes, he realises how sad that sounded, that he knows the exact deodorant Ryan uses. Ryan hummed in confusion, but it also showed his was listening. "We can pack up, and leave, fight our way out if anyone stops us." Shane whispered, looking up at Ryan through tired, yet soft eyes. Ryan looked unsure, but he didn't want to say, and so, Shane reached up, and gently cupped Ryan's cheek, caressing the smooth skin. He watched Ryan close his eyes, and lean into the touch, pressing his cheek further against his hand. Shane asked softly, voice fond, "what's your plan, darlin'?"

Ryan slowly opened his eyes, and gently cupped Shane's hand with his, "no better then yours, baby." He chuckled, drily. "We could just do what we've done every day? Get dressed, and go for breakfast, and 'leave for close by activity'."

"But, instead of fighting Canis, we leave and go to Los Angeles..." Shane finished, leaning up, and he smiled slightly, getting to terms with the plan, _better plan then mine!_

"You sure you wanna leave everything here?" Ryan asked, softly. Sure, there was nothing of significance that they brought, but he was just checking with his... Partner? His flame? His 'old man'? Boyfriend? Or, maybe it's on another level, like... Maybe, Shane's his other half, and boyfriend, someone who he can't live without, someone he _needs_ to survive... _Holy shit,_ Ryan thought, hiding the shock as he realised, _Shane's my entire life..._

Shane grinned, unaware of Ryan's realisation. Shane's eyes were gentle and soft, "lets go for breakfast, darlin'."

_Darlin', I like that... I can live with that..._ Ryan thought, a helplessly, totally smitten, in love smile gracing his lips, his eyes sparkling in adoration, "lets go."

The two got out of bed, and got ready together in the bathroom; washing their faces, brushing their teeth, going to the toilet separately, a quick, yet still needy make out session, and they reluctantly changed into their uniforms, covering and hiding their sinfully, steamy activities from the night before, and took one final look of admiration, and adoration of each other; of fading, purple hickeys, and fading finger prints, and healing scratches.

They left everything behind, and held hands as they walked out of their hotel room for the last time, closing the door. They walked out down the hallway in silence, their grips tightening on each others hands, and wary glances were thrown about the hallway; to the creepy walls, to the floor, and creepy doors, to fake plants in the hall.

As they walked into the dining hall, the two had relaxed into an easy walk, sauntering almost, hand in hand, with relaxed, easy going smiles on their faces. Shane leaned down, "I'll get drinks, you get food?" He whispered, gently nipping Ryan's ear with his teeth.

Ryan gasped, blushing a bright red, and lightly, playfully elbowing the man in the side, making sure not to hurt him, "not in public, baby." He grinned, and swaggered off to the food bar, hips swaying as he did.

Shane grinned, eyes half lidded, soft in adoration, a dreamy smile on his lips, as he watched Ryan's hips and backside. He shook his head with a gentle smile, before rushing off to get drinks for them; he got himself apple juice, and extremely sugared coffee, and for Ryan he got, orange juice and extremely bitter coffee.

Ryan smiled to himself, his mind on Shane, his eyes soft and gentle, _I'd do anything for that man..._ He gushed silently, and began piling up the plates, and bowls with food; he got himself eggs, sausage, rather stringy bacon, hash browns, and a few slices of toast and butter. For Shane he got pancakes and maple syrup, and cereal.

The two made their way to a rather secluded area of the room, it was't exactly shrouded in darkness, but was more of an area where eyes wouldn't pry. In a corner, away from the window, and check in hall, more near the food bar, but not exactly there either. They sat down on the small table, their chairs opposite each other, and slowly began to eating, small smiles gracing their lips.

"We should buy popcorn," Shane suggested, sipping his small glass of apple juice. "We can go watch a movie, have a movie date!" He cheered, quietly, a bright smile on his face.

Ryan glared, but his eyes were playful, "if you suggest _Cars,_ I'm gonna fuckin' loose it." _But, if you really want to, I'll deal with it for you..._ He thought silently, helplessly in love with the man. He rested his elbow on the table, and placed his chin on his open hand, as a dopey, smitten smile fell upon his face, his eyes were soft and half lidded in adoration. He didn't even realise his face had gone that way.

Smiling shyly, and flushing a light pink, Shane looked down to his food, and messed with his spoon, "actually, I was thinking of _The Fugitive_." He corrected, and looked up at Ryan softly, and reached over, taking Ryan's hand in his, lacing their fingers together. "You know, since it was based off of the case of _Marylin and Sam Sheppard._ Thought you'd enjoy it," he shrugged his shoulders with a grin, "and I like cold cases!"

"Why?" Ryan asked, as a cheeky smile fell upon his lips, his eyes gleaming in joy.

"Because, I don't have to argue with you about ghosties, and horny boys." Shane replied, smiling cheekily, "I don't like arguing with you." _Not after arguing for seven-thousand-and-eight-hundred years,_ ("and nine months." Ryan's voice comes through).

"Horny boys?" Ryan laughed, a wheeze escaping his lips, but a confused smile was on his lips, eyebrows pulled together in a furrow, confused.

"Demons have horns!" Shane defended his name, and reason, laughing slightly. He pulled his and Ryan's hand to his lips, and kissed the back Ryan's hand, keeping their fingers interlaced, and then just kept Ryan's hand to himself.

Ryan grinned, and leaned forward ever so slightly, "can I have my hand back?" He grinned, voice soft and fond.

Shane hummed, as if thinking, but answered immediately, "nope." Now that he's allowed to touch, and hold Ryan's hand whenever he wants, he's not letting go any time soon.

"Fuck you." Ryan grinned, no malice in his voice, just love and fondness. He let Shane keep hold of his hand, and gave his large hand a loving, and gentle squeeze. He reached his other hand out, and caressed Shane's cheek, cupping his face with his hand, "you're gorgeous..."

Shane's light flush darkened slightly, and grinned, melting into Ryan's loving, and gentle touch, "I'm not gorgeous..."

"That's not what I saw last night." Ryan flirted, voice deep and husky, his eyes clouding in slight lust. A sharp grin formed on his face, mischievous and cocky (pun not intended). He licked his lips, and looked Shane over, as if he was hungry.

Shuffling, Shane crossed his legs, his face turning a bright red, the same as a tomato, "Ryan!" He whisper yelled, eyes shifting around the room, worried someone heard. He let go of Ryan's hand, and playfully slapped his shoulder.

Ryan looked serious, his grin disappearing, "I'm telling the truth though." He shrugged, but he soon smiled again, softly.

Shane giggled slightly, "you're so annoying." He joked, and looked to the smaller man, "I hate you."

"No you don't." Ryan replied, his answer was immediate, and his voice held the upmost confidence.

Shaking his head, Shane answered with a fond smile, "no, I don't." He repeated, admitting to his lie immediately.

Ryan finished his drink, and bit into his toast, "hey, Shane?" Shane hummed, his mouth full of pancakes and syrup. "I'm glad we was sent here. Together." Ryan smiled shyly, his feet shuffling against the floor nervously, and he looked down to his food shyly.

Shane smiled, he could read in between the lines; _I love you..._ "So am I," he admitted. He took Ryan's hand, and gently kissed his knuckles before letting go again; _I love you too, Ryan..._

Ryan looked down, a soft, shy smile on his face, _I don't think I will ever stop smiling..._

"Hey, I'm gonna get another coffee." Shane said, lifting up the empty, pathetic excuse of a mug, his fingers curled around the handle.

Ryan nodded, and poked his egg, "don't take too long, baby."

"I'll only be a few minutes, darlin'." Shane responded, not missing the pleasant tingle, and shiver that shot up his back, and spine at Ryan's sweet pet name for him. He picked up the empty mug, and planted a soft, gentle kiss to Ryan's tanned cheeks, not missing the smaller mans giddy smile. He stood up, a smile of his own on his face, and walked to the drinking bar.

He set his dirty mug down into the plastic, grey dirty plate bin, and grabbed a clean, white mug. He slumped with a shuffle to the coffee machine, a fond, helplessly in love smile on his face, as he sorted out his new mug of coffee. He looked around the room, eyes slowly grazing the ugly red, and brown decor, but paused as his eyes landed on guests, and hotel workers staring at him with hard, suspicious eyes.

They were staring at him, and they were tense, their shoulders up to their ears, fingers clenched, teeth gritted together, their lips pulled into an ugly frown. And now that Shane got a closer look at them, he noticed they were rather muscular, and built, as if ready for a fight. He glanced around them, checking out their outfits, and scanning them for weapons, his carefree smile slowly disappearing as he added sugar to his coffee. His eyes landed on their hips, and their chests, and looked to the bar top in front of him, setting down the sugar, eyes wide in panic; _they have guns and knives..._ He grabbed his still too bitter coffee, and walked to his and Ryan's secluded table, and set the drink down with a quiet bang, eyes shining in worry, as he sat down.

Ryan frowned, and looked up from his half empty plate, and stared at Shane in confusion, "what's wrong?" He asked, his voice wasn't quiet, or loud, just a normal, inside voice.

Shane didn't look at him, just stared at the table, and he whispered, "you was right, there are spies." His voice was breathy, and hushed.

"What?" Ryan asked, his eyes remaining calm, his voice now a whisper, still staring at Shane. His fingers tensed around his knife and fork.

"Spies," Shane whispered again. "We're surrounded, they have guns and knives, and who knows what else."

Looking around subtly, and slowly, Ryan noted that there was multiple people staring at them, their hands twitching, resting on hips and hands folded over chests - ready. He looked to Shane, and leaned in slightly, "we should leave." He whispered.

Shane nodded, his shoulders and neck tense, his muscles sore from being hardened, and squeezed. He felt sick, queasy, his stomach being riddled with anxiety, flipping and churning, and fear seized, and prickled his skin, worried at the thought of being caught.

The two stood up in unison, and didn't bother to clean their things. They stared at each other, as they walked away from the table, their heads suddenly went down to the floor, avoiding eye contact with the people in the hotel, either working their or 'guest' - the spies. They didn't look up, as they moved away from their table, and gravitated to each other, walking in unison, as if a mirror image of each other. In hindsight, this probably had the opposite affect, and made them look more suspicious.

A sharp gasp escaped Ryan's mouth, as he was harshly, and suddenly slammed into the wall behind them with a loud thud, his head banging against the wall loudly and a sharp katana was held against his neck, pressing and pushing against his tanned, smooth skin, piercing the skin ever so slightly, and a muscular arm was pressed harshly against his chest. Ryan glared, eyes turning into a sharp slits, seeing it was the blond man with a bushy moustache, Jack... That is _if_ that's his real name. A woman (her name tag read _LUCY_ ) was in front of him in an instant, locking a pair of thick, metal handcuffs around his wrists, tightly, the chain was barely a centimetre, so he couldn't pull his wrists apart, and she backed up. This happened in under a second, everything simultaneous, too fast for Shane and Ryan to react.

Shane saw, and his eyes widened, "Ryan!" He went to run forward, but was roughly seized by his shoulders, three sets on hands, two holding his shoulders down, and his arms out, and another forcing him into a painful kneel, and pulled his head up by his soft hair, the strangs tugging at his scalp - and not in the pleasant way, (their name tags read; _ALEX, IAN, THOMAS_ ). And Lucy, the same woman who handcuffed Ryan, moved over to him, and quickly shoved two bars onto Shane's fingers. The bars locked around his knuckles, and kept his fingers and thumbs spread apart, and upright, so he couldn't clench his hands, and she backed up suddenly.

Jack lips formed into a twisted, and pointy smirk, as his katana inched closer to Ryan's neck, digging into his tanned, smooth flesh slightly, and Ryan moved back as far a he could, but in reality, there really was no place for him to go, and ended up pressing himself into the wall. Shane's wide eyes shined in panic, and worry, his pupils dilating in fear, "please!" He yelled suddenly, struggling against Ian and Alex's hold, "please, don't hurt Ryan!" He begged, _pathetic_ , "please!" He yelled, uselessly and shaking, fully prepared to dislocate his shoulders to get to Ryan.

"Shut up!" Jack yelled, glaring at Shane, his voice echoing, and bouncing off the walls. He looked to Ryan again, and snarled, "I'm doing Steven and Andrew a favour."

_It is them..._ Ryan thought, helplessly. He couldn't lie, it hurt to know his friends and supposed 'heroes' were the villains behind everything. He swallowed, the blade digging into his neck more, and his eyes softened, as they slowly trailed over to Shane, "it's going to be okay." He assured, voice soft, and slightly choked, croaking.

Jack laughed, "always the opti—"

Ryan slammed his head into Jack's face, breaking the mans nose, and giving himself a headache, the skin on his neck breaking more due the pressure of the blade. Jack fell back, and yelled loudly in pain, his nose in excruciating pain and agony, and landed on his back, hands covering his bloody nose. He tackled Shane out of the grasps of Ian, Alex and Thomas, and his hands were placed awkwardly on Shane's waist, and Ryan awkwardly placed his hands on Ryan's shoulder, as they rolled away from the small danger, spinning.

A bright white, and black light swirled and engulfed them, and in place of the two was Shyan. He slowly stood up, and the spies pulled out their weapons, prepared for a fight. Shyan glared at them, a small smirk dancing on his lips, and he clenched his hands, and pulled them apart, breaking his restraints, and summoning his spiked gauntlets.

Shyan looked at them, all four eyes glaring, and he waved his hand in front of his face, summoning his visors, "let's go." _God, that was awesome..._ Shyan thought, putting away that cool move for later on.

There was about thirty people that jumped at him, and he ducked down. The group piled on top of him, and it seemed like they had won, and he was down. A loud bang surrounded, and echoed the room, and the spies flew back, slamming into walls, tables, chairs and into the food and drink bars. Shyan landed from a large jump, his left fist up in the middle of an uppercut, and his spikes on his gauntlet were large, and sharp, and his gauntlet was huge. He clicked his fingers, and the weapon shrunk to the normal size.

Shyan glared at everyone, and held his fists up again with a smirk. He watched a few people near the window stand up, dazed, and Shyan ran at them fists raised, and he backhanded a man. He ducked down into a split, as a woman swiped her sharp sword at him, and swiped her legs from under her. He was hoisted up by a three men, then one of the men tried to slam Shyan into a wall, but the 'hero' ran up the wall with his boots, dirtying the wall, he flipped over the man, and slammed the man into the wall. He then threw the unconscious and limp body into the men, knocking the two down.

A woman tried to slam her large hammer into Shyan's head with a swing, but Shyan dodged his head, and kicked her stomach, snatching the hammer as she fell. He twirled the hammer in his hand, and lifted the hammer, slamming it into a man who jumped at him from behind, and then knocked it into a woman's jaw, breaking teeth, and then slammed it into a mans legs. He threw the hammer at a woman near by.

Bullets suddenly flew past Shyan's head, and he rolled onto his shoulder, and hid behind a table, using it as a shield, bullets lodging into the wood with loud bangs, splinters jumping from it. He moved forward, rushing at the group of ten, as they kept shooting at him, hitting the table each time, their hard eyes turning to panic as Shyan got closer, and closer. Shyan slammed the bullet ridden table into them, hard enough that it broke the table, and it sent the group flying into the wall.

Yelling came from behind Shyan, and he turned around to see people, weapons bared, running at them. Shyan looked to the food bar, and ran over, he leaped over and shakily pulled, and heaved the food bar out of the ground, and threw it at the group, pinning them under the heavy weight. He looked around, relaxing, but was tackled down a man and woman, the man pushing a knife to his neck, Shyan slammed his fist into the woman, and flipped the man off, slamming the mans head into a wall.

Slowly, he stood up, and looked around, people knocked out, and dazed, injured, but not dead. He rubbed his neck slowly, fingers tracing his injured neck, he looked out the window, and rushed out the entrance door in a slight panic, desperately trying to stay calm. He ran down the street, panting, running to the airport, _get to the airport, get to the airport, get to the airport!_ He froze mid-run, his four eyes wide in shock, _no... No, if they realise I've escaped on a plane, they'll shoot the plane down, and kill everyone on board..._ He thought in worry, running his fingers through his styled, and yet still fluffy hair, tugging at the strands slightly.

He ran in another direction, far away from the airport as possible. He knew he needed a way to get to Los Angeles, _but how?_ He passed a few bikers, and he paused, his eyes lighting up with an idea, and he ran backwards as if on rewind, and he looked to the group. They all slowly got off, and walked into the fast food restaurant. He saw a black motorcycle, with a black helmet balanced on the rubber coated handle. He looked around, and saw a streetlight covered in posters, and missing animal posters, and advertisements and lesson, he tore off a blue poster for a nearby cafe, and searched himself for a pen. He found nothing, _oh yeah, Shane and Ryan left everything behind._

He got an ideas, as people walked past, either dunk or tired, and Shyan looked at them, "does anyone have a pen?!" He yelled, "excuse me, do you have a pen? Do you have a pen?" He tapped a woman with bright blue hair, "hi, do you have a pen?"

"Uh, sure?" A woman handed him a _Sharpie_ , confused, tired, and ever so slightly scared of him, and Shyan wrote on the back of the blue poster, and stuck it to a blue bike, near the black one.

_Hey, sorry for stealing your black bike! I'll bring it back, I promise! But, the world is in danger. - Shyan, here's my info XXX-XXXXXX_

Shyan handed the black _Sharpie_ back, "thanks." He jumped onto the motorcycle, and tried to put on the helmet, but it was way to small for his head, and dropped it on the ground with a clatter, "fuck it!" He pulled out a few wires, and connected them, striking them together, the engine let out a loud growl. He gripped the handles, and turned them, a loud grumble filled the chattering streets, and he sped off down _Interstate 15._ Longer than a plane, _three hours long! For fucks sake..._ But, he knew, this was the safest option.

He needs a plan...

_Shane was spun, and Ryan twirled him out again, and again, and then back into his secure, and loving embrace. Shane relaxed into Ryan's arm, a soft smile on his lips. It would be a romantic moment, had it not been for the fact they were coming up with a plan to sneak into Inenarratus._

_"I think we should go in through the vents, and look for our friends. We can free them, and then take on Steven and Andrew." Shane explained, his hands on Ryan's shoulder, and the other held out, his cheek resting on Ryan's head, being tickled by his black raven hair._

_Ryan's plan was different the Shane's, "I still think we should be taken by them. We'll be dragged to Steven and Andrew, and we'll fight them that way. Or, we'll be take to our friends, we'll fee them, and fight Steven and Andrew." It was the fastest was, to just walk in and be taken to where ever they were taken to. "Hell, we might be taken to both. Kill two birds with one stone!"_

_Shane was tense, hips swaying, while Ryan was more refined in his dancing, and he leaned down, kissing Ryan softly, and Ryan smiled, kissing back, before spinning the taller man again._

Shyan smirked, eyes gleaming in delight, _kill two birds with one stone, huh?_ He revved the engine loudly, speeding down the road.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inenarratus - Latin (google translate) - Unsolved  
> Canis - Latin (google translate) - Dog
> 
> Bulldog Lemon Bergamot Natural Deodorant is apparently a common or well known male deodorant, don't come at me if I'm wrong!  
> A bit of conversation taken from BuzzFeed Unsolved Supernatural 'The Demonic Goatman's Bridge'.
> 
> My apologies for the terrible fight scenes in this fanfic thing, I don't know why I do this to myself! I can't write fight scenes to save my life, yet here we are!


	5. maybe, but is it worth it if we fight?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, but it's finally happened! I hope you enjoy it!

Not exactly a five star hotel, but rather a cigarette, moth ridden, not even worthy of one star motel, with a cheap, small, stuffy rental room for a singular night. Shyan opened the brown, damp, and dirt stained, dingy, and creaky, old door that late, dark evening, and looked around with four curious eyes, pushing his visor up his nose. _This feels like I'm gonna get stabbed in the bathroom, by a crazy male dressing as his Mother..._ He dully noted. Then again, the motel room in the _P_ _sycho_ movie, _somehow_ seems more pleasant to sleep in.

It was two small rooms; one moth ridden, and probably piss stained bed, with no doubt, other bodily fluid on it. A television, that was more of a thick brown box; _does that thing even work?_ And a small, splintered bedside cabinet, faded brown, with a torn, and worn faded black, leather Holy Bile book, and a brown, cracked, and torn lamp, that clashed against the grey, damp, peeling and curling wallpaper. The curtains were pulled open, carelessly, tattered and yellow, either from cigarette smoke, or years of grime and dirt accumulated together, maybe both - Shyan was unsure. The brown, swirled and twirled patterned carpet was stained with liquids which he didn’t want to know of, probably blood, and other bodily fluids, hopefully just drinks, such as coffee, and cranberry juice, if he was lucky.

The other room was the bathroom, and from what he could see, it could probably fit him in alone. A grimy looking toilet sat against the wall, and a yellow, damp stained, small bathtub, and with a grey, bacteria infested, chipped sink, with black coated, used to be white tiles stuck to the floor, with a few that were peeling, and popping up, the dirty door also damp, and an ugly shade of brown.

He flicked the used to be white light switch on, and the light above them was a dangling bulb, with wires hanging loose. The light gave off a dark, yellow tinted hue, that flickered on and off due to the faulty wiring. But, who was he to complain? It’s a good place to hide, and like I said, its cheap.

Shyan gently shut the door behind him, and walked into the room further, when suddenly, he was engulfed in a bright light, and he smiled softly, all four eyes closing slowly.

In place of Shyan, was Shane and Ryan, in a final position in their dance; Shane was dipped, arms around Ryan’s neck, his large hand in Ryan's thick, raven hair, his eyes closed softly. Ryan had his arms around Shane’s waist thin, one arm up his spine, securing him in a gentle hold, chests flushed together, his eyes shut gently. Their lips locked together, like a puzzle piece falling, and fitting into place.

Slowly, they pulled back from their kiss, gentle and careful, their eyes still closed, and noses brushing together, their foreheads resting against each other’s. _Did they Split calmly, or suddenly?_ It didn't feel like they were ripped apart, it felt like a soothing tingle, soft and warm, despite being apart.

Shane’s eyes fluttered open, looking around with his eyes, and he smiled softly, they Split together, in unison. It wasn't forced. “We end this tomorrow, right?” He asked softly, and nervously, “tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow.” Ryan confirmed, his eyes opening, looking at Shane softly, a smile on his face. They chose to Split, it didn't come as a ripping, searing, daze. “I promise...”

Shane happily pulled Ryan’s head down again into a soft, gentle, yet passionate kiss, and Ryan happily, and joyfully kissed back, pulling the taller male up into a standing position.

Ryan pulled back after a few seconds, and looked out the grease and dust covered window with a slight frown, “it’s getting late...” He commented, softly.

“Yeah....” Shane mumbled, looking outside as well, and then nuzzled his face into Ryan’s silky, and product styled locks of hair, closing his eyes, trying to shut out the outside world.

“We should try and sleep,” Ryan explained. “Let’s be honest, tomorrows gonna be Hell for both of us, and we won’t sleep well tonight. We need to at least try.” He sighed, holding Shane closer.

Shane nodded slightly, Ryan's hair tickling his skin. He pressed a kiss the top of Ryan’s head, burying his face into his hair, the only thing grounding him to reality was Ryan, Ryan and his aroma. He let it consume him, wrap around him and warm him, he let it relax him, “okay...”

With no other clothes to change into, Shane hesitantly pulled away, and locked the door to their room, pulling the curtains shut, harshly. He was shocked it didn't disintegrate under his rough touch. While, Ryan pulled out the bedside cabinet, and pressed it against the door as extra security, ignoring the damp left on the peeling wall, and how clean that one section of the carpet was. The two climbed onto the grimy bed, and grimaced. Together, they pushed off the duvet, and peeling off sheets, upon sheets from the mattress, hoping to get to something cleaner. They even threw the pillows on the floor for good measure.

Ryan immediately pulled Shane into his embrace, arms wrapping around him securely, and protectively, and Shane happily nuzzled his face into Ryan’s toned, and suit covered chest, his arms wrapping around his waist, tightly. They didn’t need the placebo of a duvet cover to hide behind if there was, a monster in the motel room, or lurking under the bed, they had each other. Their warmth, and loving comfort, and gentle holding hands, and secure arms, that was their safety blanket. Each other, and that's all they needed. They slowly began settling for the night.

They settled in the bed, or well mattress, for the night, eyes closing. But, they didn't relax, or really settle, not exactly. They, again, tossed and turned, legs kicking, and their grips tightening around each other. Their sleepy, and shut down minds, swarmed with dark, worrisome thoughts, spinning, twirling, and slamming into their heads; Are their friends okay? Are they hurt? Are they dead, or alive? Please, let them be alive... What are Steven and Andrew doing, right now? Do they know Shane and Ryan are on the run? Who's on their side, and who's on Steven and Andrew's side?

Thoughts about what would happen to the other; _Shane's hands are bloody, and his weapons are gone. He's kneeling on bruised knees, with ripped, and blood stained clothes, head down, panting and heaving, dazed and dizzy. Ryan's held back, pushed on his knees, and head pulled up by his hair, tugging at his scalp, hands tightly cuffed, and he's struggling, eyes wide in a frenzied panic._

_A pointed spear, which was held by Steven, was pushed against Shane's pale neck. Ryan's eyes widened more, and he shook his head in horror, "no, please, no!"_ _He tried to get up, tried to get to Shane, but Andrew roughly held him down._ _He almost didn't see a faceless man move to a comically, large villainous control switch, and didn't see him press a large, almost humorous red button, an almost cartoon-like timer going down for the bombs placed in heavily located areas._

_Shane looked at him, eyes tired, drooping more then usual, and were red, brimming with tears, "I'm sorry..."_

_"Shane!" Ryan yelled in tears, as the sharp spear against Shane's neck, moved, sli—_

Sitting up harshly, eyes wide in horror, Ryan let out a shaky, fearful breaths, panting (tipping on the edge of a panic attack), realising he broke out into a cold sweat, and it had coated his tanned, muscular, usually warm skin. In a panic, he immediately looked to Shane, and saw the man was now more on the opposite side of the bed, curled up in a ball, breathing softly, and gently, and snoring as usual - usually it would annoying Ryan (and be secretly fond), but it was all indicators he was alive. Still, Ryan carefully leaned over, his fingers gently tracing over Shane's pale, smooth neck, his touch like a ghostly breath, barely there, _no blood, no cut mark..._ He sighed in relief, relaxing, and slumping, rubbing his white as paper face, tiredly. He looked around the dark room, with the outside, natural night light seeping through the shitty, crumbling curtains, _room still here, world is still here... Not destroyed..._ His nightmare was calming, but it was still in his mind, like a horrible reality, _God, don't let it be a premonition..._ He begged, silently.

He needed a moment. He needed a moment to relax, and regain his thoughts, and composer. Slowly, and carefully, as not to wake Shane, Ryan swung his legs out of bed, and stalked off to the bathroom. He flicked the light switch on with a loud _click_ that echoed the small room, and the light was dim, and the bulb was on a faulty, exposed wire, swinging from the slight damp, and cold breeze, as an orange hue was cast over the vile bathroom. He shut the door quietly, and pushed the toilet seat cover down with a squeak, sitting on the grimy lid, letting out a breath of relief, his left leg bouncing in anxiety.

Folding his hands together, Ryan looked up, his eyes blank and lips pulled into a straight line, his leg bouncing quicker. He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. He stared at the wall in front of him. The tiles were yellow, and brown, caked in slime, and dirt, with the cement filling chipping, and peeling. _Probably used to be white tiles,_ Ryan thought, worrying his bottom lip, careful to not break his skin.

His thoughts landed back on Shane, _his_ Shane. God, what if his nightmare becomes a reality? He couldn't live without Shane. _Are we going to live?_ He thought helplessly, heartbeat speeding up in uncomfortable panic. _Will we win? What happens if we loose?_ The thought of loosing, civilians dying, all because the civilians didn't have the ability to summon a fucking weapon, the thought that their demise happens because Ryan couldn't stop it... It makes him feel sick, his stomach churning and twisting, burning acid bubbling away, and bile threatening to rise in his throat. _Why is this all happening now?_ He asked himself, eyes sad. Just his luck he realises, all too soon mind you, that Shane is the one, his life is just starting to become clear, and this bullshit happens. But, why?! The answer came to him in cold shock, and icy horror, as if a bucket of freezing water was tipped down his spine. _Andrew and Steven are close to winning,_ he realised. It made sense, it made made sense that shits hit the fan now, because they were so close! Ryan hid his face in his hands, sniffing and holding back tears that were threatening to fall, and let out a breath of sharp, shaky air, legs bouncing like crazy. _It's all my fault if we fail tomorrow..._ He realised, horrified. Fucking hell, it'll be his fault, fuck!

And, Shane... _Oh God, my poor Shane..._ He thought, helplessly. Shane Madej is amazing, and is so kind, and handsome. He's so funny, and every annoying thing he does is so annoyingly cute, he doesn't deserve to be hurt, or die. He smiled at the thought of Shane, of his Shane, _he's the best thing that's ever happened to me..._ He thought fondly, then stopped smiling suddenly, and his eyes widened in shock, _oh fuck, Shane's the best thing that's ever happened to me!_ His eyes were widening in surprise every few seconds, with each new revelation, _I've never hated Shane... And, he's never hated me..._

Every time Ryan's called Shane 'Big Guy', or called him 'Sasquatch', jabbing at the taller mans height. Even when Ryan was insulting him about his singing voice... Which really, Shane's voice was amazing, as well as his little jingles he made up, _I mean, who can make a song out of the Dancing Plague?_ When he said he was kill Shane with voodoo, and said his bowl haircut was terribly horrific... He never meant it, he meant the exact opposite, and those nicknames were all in good nature, playful jabs.

And, Shane was the same with him! Every time he was called 'Little Guy', it was just a nickname, one that he liked! Even the fucking _Hot Daga_ was written to piss Ryan off, it was written that way, and Ryan went with it, but he secretly enjoyed it. Even when Shane essentially called him a coward when he thought Headquarters were haunted by ghosts, and mocking him for carrying a cheap, green, plastic water gun full of Holy Water, he still was there for Ryan. (Sure, he was teasing Ryan and cursing the ghosts out, but it was still a way to relax.) Shane hiding the goddamn jellybeans around the Headquarters when he want them, it was all done for fun and laughs.

_Shit, we've been friends for years! What the fuck?!_ Ryan thought helplessly, rubbing his hands down his face, dragging his cheeks down. He was finally regaining colour, _fuck, we've been bantering for years! How the fuck have I not noticed?!_ Ryan thought in shock, face buried his hands again, running his fingers through his his styled hair, messing it up, tugging the strands.

~~~~~

Shane's eyes cracked open, eyes squinting in the dark. He yawned, and rubbed his eyes, tiredly, rubbing gunk from the corner of his eyes. He sighed, shoulders relaxing, and turned around from the wall. He stretched his arms, shoulders and back cracking, and snapping, and his hand gently went to wrap around Ryan's. But, he paused...

There was nothing there, just cold air. His eyes snapped open, and looked to his side, finding Ryan's side of the bed empty. _Where's Ryan?!_ He thought in a panic, and sat up in fear. He looked around, eyes wide, and his eyes landed on a dark light coming from under the bathroom door. He sighed, relaxing and he shuffled out of the bed, slumping to the bathroom, and opening the door slowly.

Shane frowned in worry, seeing Ryan sat on the toilet, and his fingers through his hair, and staring blankly at the wall. He shut the door, and knelt in front of Ryan, needing to be in the bathtub really as the bathroom was so small. He took Ryan's small, tanned hands in his, and squeezed them gently, "Ryan, are you okay?" He asked softly.

Ryan looked to Shane softly, and squeezed Shane's pale hands, his eyes gentle, "I love you..." He admitted. He's said, verbally, those three words. Those three fucking words that seem so terrifying, they were out there, hanging in the air, and everything could go wrong.

Shane's eyes widened in shock, and he smiled softly, his left hand cupping Ryan's cheek softly, "I love you too..." He said, softly, his eyes practically sparkling. "Where did that come from?" He asked, voice in a gentle, whispered, mumble.

"I've just been thinking, and thinking, and thinking, about all the possibilities that might happen tomorrow." Ryan explained, his voice quiet and small, extremely tiny, he sounded afraid. "We might not be taken to them, we could be separated," he whispered, eyes swimming in worry. "They win, everyone dies. _You_ die, Shane... And, it's all my fault." He whispered, hands shaking slightly.

Shane didn't like that; he didn't like how scared, and nervous Ryan sound, he didn't like how unsure he sounded. It just didn't sound right with Ryan's silky, smooth, deep voice. Shocked, and worried for the man, Shane asked, "why's it just your fault?" He rubbed his thumb against Ryan's cheek softly, "why's it not mine, as well?" _Why are you taking all the blame, darlin'?_ He thought, he wouldn't let his... Boyfriend? Significant other? The love of his life? What are they? It feels like a word that doesn't exist... Something more then any word in the vocabulary, archaic and modern.

"It's my plan." Ryan said, bouncing his leg again, and looking to Shane. "Fusing is still terrifying after Bryan, and it's not because of you!" He assured quickly. "What if we Split, it's my fault..." He whispered, shakily. "You can do no wrong, baby..."

Shaking his head, Shane asked, "what about all those years I bullied you?"

"No, we were bantering!" Ryan corrected, laughing slightly, "for years, we thought we hated each other. We were good friends, bantering!"

"True, true..." Shane chuckled, a soft smile on his face. He nuzzled his nose against Ryan's softly, "if this fails, which it won't, then it'll be both our faults. Not just yours, not just mine." He assured, his eyes serious, "we won't fail. I promise."

Ryan shook his head slightly, "you can't make promises like that."

"Like what?"

"Like the one's you can't keep."

Shane shakes his head, holding Ryan's face with his hand, his thumb rubbing his cheek softly, "I can make those promises, and I will keep them." He said, his voice holding no uncertainty. His voice now soft, and gentle, he said, "we should sleep, darlin'."

Nodding, Ryan sighed, "I'll catch up." He slumped down, relaxing ever so slightly.

Shane nodded back, then kissed Ryan's cheek softly, and stood up with a 'old man' grunt. He walked away, keeping hold of Ryan's hand until they slipped from each others grasp, being to far away from each. Ryan kept his hand held out, as if reaching out for Shane, the bathroom door slowly closing behind the taller man. He finally dropped his hand onto his knee, his sad eyes on the closed door. Slowly, he looked to his hand that held Shane's, and clenched it softly, his eyes closing gently. _If it all goes wrong tomorrow, it could kill us, and everyone on the planet..._

~~~~~

They stood outside of the tall building, with multiple windows, and grey brick. The building was also known as; Inenarratus Headquarters. The 'heroes; stood side by side, holding hands gently, and comfortingly. The building seemed quiet, from the outside at least, as if there was no sign of life, it was _too_ quiet. Dead to the world, almost. Even the windows seemed empty, and there was no artificial light shining through. The dorm buildings (which was near the Headquarters) were quiet, and shut down, so it's possible there are some 'heroes' trapped in their rooms, but the two don't have time for that. They need to get to Steven and Andrew, and put an end to this madness, and they had to save their friends.

Shane looked down to Ryan, eyes swimming with nerves, "are you ready?"

Letting out a tense, and worried puff of air, Ryan shakily nodded, "yeah."

Ignoring the anxiety creeping up their spines, and ignoring their churning, turning stomachs, with a mixture of bile and burning acid, their hearts slamming, and pounding against their rib cages, rattling their bones, threatening to escape. Yet, at the same time, their hearts seemed to both fall to their stomach, and simultaneously, rise in their throats; the two summoned their weapons. Shane clenched his fists tightly, nails digging into the palms of his hands, his spiked brass knuckles appearing, and Ryan pulled his hands apart with a violent jerk, his gauntlets appearing.

"Lets go," Ryan sighed, shakily.

The two didn't waste time, and ran through the large, glass entrance doors with a battle cry, then through the second entrance door. The doors violently swung open, coming of it's hinges, smashing against the wall with a loud slam, and bang, and shattered into a million pieces, and landing on the floor like tiny bells, and they held their hands up, ready for a fight (well, fake fight given their plan). Their eyes squinted into a glare, an angry frown on their face, but their anger slowly turned to confusion, and shock. Nobody was there.

The lights were turned off, and there was no creature, or person in sight. Just a large, empty, eerie, dark room, with an empty, clean and organised, wooden check in desk, and wooden waiting benches, and wooden chairs, with a table full of up to date, recent magazines and newspapers, as if someone had put them out that morning. The computer on the desk was off, with a clip book, notebook, black and blue pen, a grey coloured phone and next to it was a full glass of water with ice cubes floating, and bobbing in it, slowly melting. The only noise was a clock hung up on the wall, that slowly, and quietly ticked with each passing second.

Slowly, the two moved closer to each other as each others safety blanket, as they cautiously looked around the room, eyes wary, looking for any signs of life. Shane frowned in upmost confusion, and rubbed the back of his neck with a hum, _nothing..._

Ryan suddenly gripped Shane's arm gently, grounding himself, as he took a deep breath, calming himself, _where are they?_ There's people here, he knows that, there has to be if there's a glass of water with ice in! But, where?

"Maybe, there really is nobody in here." Shane said, voice just above a whisper, as he leaned down to Ryan, unsure.

Shushing Shane quietly, waving his hand, Ryan whispered back, "there has to be people." Using his index finger, he pointed to the desk, and to the glass of cold water, mixed with the bobbing ice cubes. "look, that glass has ice cubes in it." He explained.

"Yes, that’s what happens when water gets cold." Shane answered, explaining the logic of frozen water. He rolled his eyes slightly, but there was still a fond, adoring smile on his face as he looked from the glass, to Ryan. Really though, he had no idea why Ryan was pointing out this glass of water.

Ryan playfully, and fondly nudged Shane's side. He smiled, with a wheezy laugh, and said, "no. What I’m saying is, don’t you think it’s a little odd that the ice hasn’t melted yet?" He asked, his left hand raised, palm up, and gesturing to the glass.

"One of life’s great mysteries." Joked Shane, wheezing as well, smiling. _But, Ryan's right... As usual..._ He thought, finally getting with Ryan's thought process.

Shane looked around carefully, and slightly panicked, and then suddenly, his eyes fell to the stairs, and he fell silent, then waved his hand to it, _lets go._ Ryan nodded silently in agreement. The two slowly walked up the stairs, their shoulders tense, and up to their ears, careful to not make a sound, missing step five and eleven as they creaked under weight. Looking around, Ryan peaked his head into a hallway on Floor One; empty as well. Shane also looked into the hallway, and then he kept walking up the stairs, and Ryan followed, the two slowly moved closer, and held hands tightly.

"Where are we going?" Ryan whispered, the two walking up the stairs again, moving closer to Shane, looking around. He kept checking behind them to make sure they weren't being followed.

"I'm thinking the Control Room..." Shane whispered back, "the cameras might show something?" He reasoned hopefully, and looked down the hallway on Floor Three, checking around the hall, and once he saw it was clear, he began walking down the hall, and Ryan followed, more like being dragged, (not that he minded).

The two slowly walked past the Laboratory, and then past the Training Room, then past Medical Bay One, Medical Bay Two, Supply Room, and then finally, they found themselves outside of the Control Room.

Ryan looked at Shane, and gently pressed a kiss to his pale cheek, "don't let your guard down." He warned, and then slowly looked down the hallway, "I'll go to the Desks." _Maybe there's a few more 'heroes' there who might want to help... And hopefully, they aren't on Steven and Andrew's side..._

"Be on the look out." Shane sighed worriedly, and gently kissed Ryan's lips, their dry lips sticking together slightly as they pulled back. They smiled, and slowly leaned in for another kiss, their lips moving together slowly. Shane then slowly, and regretfully pulled away, and took a deep, shaky breath. He slowly walked into the Control Room, as Ryan carefully walked down the hallway to the Desks, which was further down the hall.

The Control Room was large, yet quiet isolating, and suffocating, the room had a blanket of darkness wrapped around it. There were four computers on a large, metal desk, with screens everywhere, all over the walls like tiles, the screens were showing live feeds of the surveillance cameras, with ugly, disgusting, green metal cabinets around the place full of files, papers, and a green, mucus coloured phone to match, and there was no windows, with one light, that worked, but didn't light up the whole room. Shane looked at the static looking, black and white coloured screens, and glanced over them, his eyes landing on one particular screen; The screen showed a large, circular room, that seemed mainly made out of metal with a circular bar. The white, digital reading on the screen read; _Cam 144_. In the large room was Ned, Keith, Eugene and Zach, bruised, and bleeding, chained to the floor by their ankles and wrists, forced onto their knees, with Eugene and Zach shackled far apart from each other, and, Marielle and Sara were also chained to the floor by their ankles and wrists, severely injured, bruised and bleeding, also far away from each other.

Slowly, Shane backed up, his eyes wide in shock, and horror. He turned around quickly, and ran to the door to leave, but it slammed shut automatically, the thick, metal door coming down with an echoing bang, locking him in with multiple loud _clicks_. He bashed into the door, and placed his hands on the cool, metal, pushing himself off the door. He moved his hands around, and banged his fists on it, "Ryan!" He yelled, and tried to push the metal door up with a groan, but it didn't move. He again began banging on the door, "Ryan! Ryan, darlin'! Can you here me!?"

Footsteps echoed the hall, heavy boots thudding against the floor from the other side of the metal door, "Shane!" Ryan yelled in concern hearing the man yell, stopping suddenly, hearing Shane bang on the door. Ryan quickly moved to the door, and hurriedly pounded his fist on the door in response, "Shane, are you in there?!" He asked, panicked.

"Yeah! The door slammed shut, and I can't get it open!" Shane yelled back, "there's a live feed with The Try Guys, and The Girls shackled in a metal, circular room, its _Camera 144_!" He explained, again trying to pull the door open with a strained groan and shaking arms, fingertips slowly turning white, and coating in sweat, and his shoulders pressed against the door, and then slipped from the lack of grip.

Ryan slammed his hand on the door in anger, "fuck... Don't worry, I'll get you out, baby!" He promised, looking around the door for a key, or a wire, or a paperclip, or hopefully a lock pick. But, that's just wishful thinking, he knows.

Shane shook his head slowly, and opened his mouth to tell Ryan not to bother, but he suddenly paused, seeing a figure shrouded in darkness, wrapped in shadows, staring at him with sharp, dark eyes, with a sickeningly, sharp grin. The silhouette was a man, he was tall, and not muscular, but not skinny, he was more in between, and there was a crash helmet on his head, with a hammer-like protrusion in the front of the helmet, shaped like a diamond. _Andrew..._ Shane realised, staring at Andrew, tensing up. The two were now having an intense stare off, hostile glaring, greenish, brownish eyes clashing with light hazel eyes, eye to eye.

"Shane?!" Ryan yelled in worry when Shane went quiet, and his voice sounded strained, and pained. He was on his slowly bruising knees, trying to pull the door up with his fingers, his muscles straining, and bulging, his arms shaking. Even the gauntlets weren't helping Ryan pull the door open.

"Andrew's here with me," Shane called back, slowly turning to face the door. It hadn't even budged, despite Ryan's bulging biceps, _oh, what a sight that would be._ Shane thought, imaging Ryan's strong arms. He shook his head, _not the time._ "Ryan, go on without me..." He said, softly, coming back to the present, instead of his teenage, horny fantasy.

Ryan stopped trying to force the door open, and he slowly stood up, legs and arms shaking from the strain, and began resting his forehead against the door, and placed his shaky, and weak left hand on the door with a quiet bang, "be careful, baby..." He closed his eyes with a smile, seeing Shane in his mind.

Shane smiled sadly, and worriedly, placing his right hand on the door, roughly where Ryan's hand was placed, just ever so slightly off, his forehead pressed against it as well, eyes closing slowly, and fondly, imagining him in front of him, "you stay safe as well, darlin'..."

Hesitantly, Ryan slowly backed away from the door, and eventually, and regretfully, ran off, trying to find Steven, and the 'heroes'. Maybe, even others who could help, hopefully.

Shane looked to Andrew, his gaze being torn away from the thick door, and he slowly moved forward, his hands clenched and shaking in anger at his sides, "hey _boss_." He spat out, snarling angrily.

Andrew moved forward as well, pushing off the wall, moving out of the shadows, an ugly sneer on his face, "Shane..." He crossed his arms, "I'm giving you an option, and I think you'll take it; Surrender, and I'll go easy on you, and your _darlin'_." He said, spitting out Shane's pet name for Ryan his voice mocking, with thick vice and dripping with hot, sizzling venom, disgust seeping from his pale lips.

_How fucking dare he,_ Shane thought, spitefully. He grit his teeth together, grinding them slightly, scolding, red hot, pin needles stabbed, and pricked him, with sharp, pointed knives stabbed his stomach, as buckets of anger washed over, like boiling, steaming water, his vision turning red as fire, as a hateful, sharp, hard, pointed glare fell onto his face, _how dare he!_ In a fit of blind rage and anger, Shane ran forward, his hand reared back for a punch, "you bastard!" He screamed, voice echoing and bouncing off the wall, and he slammed his fist forward, and Andrew easily dodged with a smirk, moving to the left slightly, and backing up about an inch. Andrew playfully, and mocking yawned, making a huge show of patting his wide, open 'yawning' mouth, as if it was all to easy for him to dodge.

Shane moved forward, breathing heavily, and angrily, his nostrils flaring, and he swiped his other fist at Andrews face, but the villain simply leaned back, the spikes missing him, "are you angry, Shane?" Andrew asked, ducking his head as Shane's right fist was pushed forward - the 'hero' missed again. "I feel like you're angry," Andrew smirked, as Shane punched at him again with a scream, but this time, Andrew moved his head, the hammer-like extension blocking Shane's fist. Shane's fist slammed into the helmet, and he yelled in pain, and pulled his hand back. But, it didn't matter, and went straight back into fighting. Shane was getting angrier, and angrier, and angrier with each passing second, and was getting more, and more reckless with each punch, slash, swipe and swing. Each time, Andrew easily, and readily dodge, swift, and elegant like a ballerina. Of course, this just pissed Shane off more.

Again, Andrew simply, and easily moved back, as Shane kept furiously punching in a enraged hazed daze, swinging his fists wildly, and chaotically. Andrew caught Shane's wrists easily, smirking coldly, "do you think Ryan's safe?" He asked, in mock worry, making a show of stoking his chin in thought. He backed up as Shane swung his spiked fist at his head. "Lets hope that _darlin'_ ," he mocked, "is safe."

With a loud, angry yell of swears (a few of those being fucking, shit, bastard, dick), Shane slammed Andrew into a metal wall with a loud, echoing _bang_ , now well and truly pissed off, seeing nothing but the fiery, red pits of Hell. Andrew groaned, his head slamming against the wall, as a red hot, searing pain spread, and shot through his skull, branching out in all directions, but he still had a sickening, smug smirk on his face, it never faltered. Not once.

Shane snarled, his grip tightening in anger, and his knuckles turning white as a ghost, "what the fuck are you smirking about, arsehole?!"

Andrew carelessly shrugged, an easy going smile on his face, practically relaxed as if talking to an old friend, "you didn't check the rest of the room, _baby_." He finished off, mockingly, with a smirk.

Suddenly, with no time to check, two large, sharp nailed hands grabbed Shane's shoulders, and he was picked, more liked dragged up, being snatched away from Andrew. Shane struggled, "what the fuck?!" He looked behind him, thrashing angrily, and hectically, a Caprae Homines gripped onto his shoulders, nails digging into his skin, piercing the pale flesh. He tried to swing his weapon covered hands, but Andrew stopped him. Andrew gripped Shane's wrists in a tight squeeze, and shook his hands for a second the weapons disappearing, and then slid two bars onto Shane's fingers. The bars locked around his knuckles, and kept his fingers and thumbs spread apart, and upright.

Shane glared, "you fucking bastard!" He yelled, through gritted teeth, struggling, and thrashing, ignoring the sharp, pointed pains in his shoulders.

Andrew rolled his shoulders, relaxing his muscles, and with a smirk, he said, "lets get you to the others."

~~~~~

Ryan was rushing down another hallway, on a higher floor (Floor Five), looking for this circular room, by the logic of the camera number ( _144_ ), this 'metal circular room', as Shane put it, just _has_ to be on a higher floor. He has no idea where it is, and he _still_ can't find it, _where is it?! Where are they?!_ He thought in worry, a frown on his face as he looked into rooms, upon rooms, upon rooms.

He looked into one of the Desk rooms on the floor; it was rather empty, with only a few people in, multiple desks and computers, and well lit with the bright, white artificial lighting. The one person who Ryan clearly recognised was his first, and oldest friend, his first Fusion partner, _Brent!_ He smiled, hope and warmth seeping in his chest. Brent was sat at his grey, plastic desk, typing away at his laptop, and sat in a red cushioned, swivel chair, running his pale, long fingered hands through his gingery, curled hair worriedly, so it seemed. He crawled in on his hands and knees, and hid behind the desks and chairs, making his way to Brent, quietly and yet still hurriedly.

Hiding behind a big, grey desk, one that was next to Brent's desk. Ryan whispered out, "Brent." But, Brent didn't look up, having not heard him, "Brent!" He whisper hissed, again, leaning closer ever so slightly, and then glanced around worriedly. Nobody saw him, _thank God_.

Brent looked up slowly, a confused frown on his face, fingers freezing, mid-type. He looked around the room trying to find the source of the voice, and saw Ryan on the floor near him, and he looked to his computer again with a snap of the head, continuing to type. He whispered, "Ryan, what the hell are you doing here? When did you get back?" He asked, not looking to him, but his eyes kept glancing to him.

"Yesterday evening," Ryan answered in a hushed voice. He looked up at Brent in worry, "Steven and Andrew will destroy the world, and there's a circular room with The Try Guys, and the Girls—"

Brent subtly waved his hand, as if he was swatting a fly around, and away from his head, but he was silencing Ryan. "I know, I know..." Brent said, assuring him, he's heard, "I'm not exactly against their idea." He admitted with a shrug, and Ryan fell silent in shock, his eyes widening. He physically backed up, away from Brent as if he was a diseased animal. Brent glanced to Ryan again, then to his keyboard, typing with quiet _clicks_ , "come on Ry, we're better then those mortal." He explained, "I'm tired of having to save people, and I know you feel the same." He said, nodding in certainty.

Ryan looked down to the floor, not answering, _being a hero isn't something I ever really wanted..._ He thought, damn Brent saying the truth, damn him for being truthful. He hated how well Brent knew him, hated it with a burning passion. He wished he hadn't told Brent all of this information, it's how the two connected when they first met. But, to kill 'mortals', to kill the rest of the world for not being like him? _I don't want that..._ He thought, bitterly, feeling sick.

Brent's eyes lit up, a joyful shine in his eyes, and Ryan shuffled, uncomfortable, noting how Brent looked like he had a genius idea, he could practically see the light bulb appear, and light up above his head. The man got off his desk chair suddenly, and knelt down on his knees in front of Ryan, and took his rather small hand, and they fit into his hands, but not perfectly. It wasn't a nice, calm, fitting feeling, but it felt good. Brent smiled, "Fuse with me, lets be Bryan again!"

Ryan's eyes widened in horror, and his snatched his hand away in shock, "what?"

"Lets be Bryan, again!" Brent repeated with a happy, gleeful smile.

"Why?" Ryan asked in a whispered gasp, his eyes seeming to get wider in terror.

Brent nodded, a sparkling, dazzling smile on his face, "I've never felt power like that for over seven thousand years!" He admitted, "we were powerful, bigger, stronger! We were meant be feared!" He smiled, taking Ryan's hand again.

Just as quickly as Brent took his hand, Ryan hurriedly pulled, more liked jerked, his hand away again, "no... I took my anger out on you, I needed to. I hated you, when I was with you." He said, disgust on his face, nose scrunched up. He felt terror seize up in him, as that horribly feeling of 'snatch the power', a ripping, blunt pain curled around him, a ghost of what Bryan left behind.

Brent shook his head, and smiled softly, and reassuringly, "it'll be better this time! I've changed!" He promised. "Us being friends changed me!" He moved forward, and Ryan backed up, falling on his back with a _thud_ , "I'm the only one who can handle you! You and your eccentric ways!" He took Ryan's hand, "together, we will be unstoppable!"

Ryan glared, "no! You're wrong!" He scolded, "what we had wasn't healthy, you know that! I never want to feel like that again!" He shouted, getting louder and louder, voice thick as he held back tears. To deny a Fusion, a chance to feel somewhat hole (even if it wasn't Shane), it was like being stabbed in the heart, and the dagger being twisted, it was killing him. It didn't matter it was a bad Fusion, it felt like he was committing a cardinal sin. Deny a Fusion just didn't happen. "And, you're wrong again! I have someone else now!" He yelled, correcting him, his mind on Shane, thinking of him, thinking of Shyan. Thinking of everything he and Shane built up.

Brent backed away from Ryan in shock, eyes wide, "who?" Ryan looked down, not answering. Brent glared, realising immediately, "it's _him_ , isn't it?" He hissed out, tense, and teeth gritted together, almost seething.

Ryan looked down nervously, Brent knew who _he_ was, it was Shane. Of course he knw. Ryan held himself back from punching Brent in his fat nose for sneering at Shane. "Brent, I won't Fuse with you," that's final, even if it was killing him slowly. "And I won't let you hurt this planet..." He said, softly, he didn't want to be a hero, but he is. He didn't even want to hurt Brent, but if he had to... He will.

Brent nodded softly, as if he understood, and he moved back onto his red desk chair, looking at his full of writing notebook and keyboard again. He looked to Ryan, and nodded to behind the smaller man, and he smiled sarcastically, with a sneer, and almost hurt eyes, "you missed Steven."

Quickly, Ryan turned and looked behind him. Steven stood there, a dark look in his eyes, and he kicked Ryan's chest, making the man fall onto his back with a harsh bang, a pain shooting up his spine. Ryan glared angrily, and went to pull his hands apart, but Steven quickly cuffed his wrist together, the chain a centimetre long.

Steven clicked his fingers with a loud, echoing _snap._ He gestured to a large, hairy Pedites Magno, and then pointed to Ryan with his finger, "grab him." He ordered. It moved forward, it's big feet slamming against the floor, cracking it, and picked Ryan up by his upper arms, it's thick sausage fingers digging into his shoulders, bruising the tanned, muscular skin, dragging him away roughly.

"Steven, you bastard!" Ryan yelled, struggling, and thrashing, jerking in it's grip, being forcefully pulled away from the Brent and Steven. His plan has failed.

Steven smirked sickeningly, his lips pulled up sharply, and chuckled darkly, and he looked to Brent, "thank you for your help, Brent." He followed the creature and 'hero' with a cocky swagger, grinning evilly.

Brent nodded, watching Ryan with sad eyes, "you're welcome, Stevie." _If only you agreed to be Bryan,_ Brent thought bitterly. He always knew Shane would win, but damn it, he hoped. _Hope that tall fucker dies..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inenarratus - Latin (google translate) - Unsolved  
> Caprae Homines - Latin (google translate) - Goat Men  
> Pedites Magno - Latin (google translate) - Big Foot
> 
> I've used a conversation from Megamind, because well... I had to, it was on in the background while I was writing! It's the ice conversation. I also used the conversation from Steven Universe, Season 3 Episode 15: Alone at Sea, it's something I always knew I wanted to write, the moment I began writing this fanfic. Give it a watch, or even just that episode, it really is amazing! Also, the title has lyrics from the song Cigarette Duet by Princess Chelsea, it's a good song, give it a listen.


	6. stronger than you

With a loud bang, and clatter that sounded painful, Shane was carelessly, and harshly thrown to the floor by a Caprae Homines, like a piece of trash, unworthy of even the poorest of humanity. The 'hero' practically crumpled, and curled in on himself in a lump of shame for his failure, and it was all due to Andrew's teasing towards Ryan, and his own blind, white hot rage. He's usually the calm, patient one, and Ryan is the hotheaded, angry one - he felt terrible for letting Andrew get the better of him.

Speaking of Andrew, the man (or monster in Shane's humble, and honest opinion), moved forward with confident and powerful strides, and stood in front of him. He leaned on one leg, cockily and overpowering. The Caprae Homines kept him down, forcing him on his knees by his shoulders, the creatures sharp, pointed nails was digging into to his white, pale, tender skin. The villain towered over him, he had the stance of a giant, he looked like a skyscraper, his sinister shadow casting dark, evil, cold waves of despair over Shane.

Marielle's greenish mixed with hazels eyes, widened in worry, "Shane!" She called out, her voice high in worry.

"Are you okay?!" Eugene yelled, his usually calm, nonchalant facade gone, morphed into one of panic.

Ned glared at Andrew, heat and anger rolling off of him in tendrils, "you bastard!" He snarled, teeth bared.

"You won't get away with this!" Keith yelled in enraged confidence. It was a very stereotypical line, but what more could be said?

Zach held back a gasp of horror, "Shane, are you hurt?!" He asked in concern.

Sara struggled wildly against her metal restraints, it rubbed her wrists red and raw, her shoulders, and arms straining slightly. Her eyes were wide in a mad, wild panic, "Shane! God, are you hurt?! What have they done to you?!" She asked worried, as if she wasn't the more beaten and bloodied one between her and Shane.

Shane slowly looked up at her under his eyes, through his thick eyelashes with apologetic eyes, then he looked down again in shame and disgust at himself. He felt so weak, and powerless, he felt so incredibly useless, all because he got worked up over some fucking teasing! He let his anger control him, an anger that he can keep in check, _I'm not an angry person!_ But, that one jab at Ryan, at _his_ Ryan, sent him tumbling over the edge like a harsh waterfall. Nobody insults Ryan and gets away with it, only he can! Now, he was no longer angry, (like usual as he's not that type of person), but _unlike_ usual, he felt like a cheap plastic bag full of failure.

_God, don't let Ryan be hurt, or captured..._ Shane thought, helplessly, holding back hot, salty, burning tears. _Please, be safe..._ He silently begged, and his tears slowly filled, and rimmed his reddening eyes, he could feel them gloss over, and he began rapidly blinking, trying to rid of them. Just his fucking luck, a tear or two escaped, a few warm, and scolding hot tears slipping down his cheeks, staining them, and dripping onto the cool metal floor with a quiet pitta patter, and he sniffed quietly, worrying his lower lip with sharp gnawing, white teeth. _I'm so sorry for failing, darlin'..._ He thought, apologising silently to himself, hoping Ryan would forgive him eventually, over time. He knew he looked pathetically weak, and he knew with his cold, stoic facade falling, tears and sadness seeping through the growing cracks, it was worrying his friends, but he couldn't help it!

He didn't even look up, he couldn't bring himself to look up at her, but he knew Sara's face was one of worry and concern, maybe even a form of horror. "Shane..." She whispered, holding back her own tears, choking on them, voice thick with emotion, and hitched, cracking slightly.

_I love you..._ Shane thought softly, his eyes clenched closed tightly, finally letting his tense shoulders fall in defeat, and his body sagged, and deflated, like a plastic bag floating through the wind. Useless, with no real purpose in his body.

A loud clang echoed room, followed by a bang, from the metal double doors swinging open, from the opposite of the 'hero'. Shane looked up, his eyes sparkling, and glistening in tears, mixed with hope, and slight worry, a growing determination seeping, and crawling up his spine, and chest, warming his body with a pleasant tingle. But, that determination quickly turned sour, and cold, and slammed in his stomach all at once. He felt sick, his stomach churning with food, and burning acid, as his heart squeezed, and filled with dark dread, being stabbed with hot, burning terror like knives and daggers. He stared at the scene in front of him in horror.

"Ryan..." Gasped Sara quietly, in shock, also watching the scene.

Eugene's eyes blinked blankly, eyes full of horror, "Ryan, are you okay?!"

"What did they do?!" Ned yelled, anger dripping past his pale lips like poison.

Keith glared, heatedly, "you sick fucks..." He hissed out through clenched teeth.

"Ry!" Zach called in worry, his thin lips pulled into a concerned frown.

Marielle struggled, the metal digging into her tanned skin, her hands clenched, a coated in sweat and blood, her nails digging into her palms, leaving half crescent marks in her skin. In a crazed and worried voice, she yelled, "Ryan?! Are you okay?! Where are you hurt?!"

Ryan was dropped to the floor in a deflated heap, opposite of Shane, and was held there by a Pedites Magno, it's large, grey hands squeezing his upper arms, straining the 'heroes' muscles. Ryan slowly looked up, body slumped and hunched over in his own defeat, and was met by Shane. Ryan's defeat immediately turned to terror. Soft worried eyes met soft worried eyes, as hazel and dark brown mixed, and swirled together in a mad panic for the other.

"Shane?" Ryan asked, voice thick, and dripping in worry and terror, lips pulled into a frown. He tried to get up, to move forward, to get to him, to somehow help him, but the Pedites Magno held him back, squeezing tighter then before.

Shaking his head slowly, and in horror, eyes wide in shock, Shane tried to jerk forward, "Ryan!" But, the Caprae Homines pulled him back, nails now coated in droplets of beading, dark red blood.

Steven swaggered into the large, shivering cold, isolated and large, yet still somehow claustrophobic, metal, circular room, filled with captured 'heroes' that were shackled to the floor, or held down. He smirked coldly at them all in greeting, with the corners of his lips pointed sharply, as he moved in between Shane and Ryan, in the middle of the room, readily pulling Andrew over. He wrapped his muscular arm around Andrew's well toned, yet still thin waist, his fingers possessively, and roughly digging into Andrew's pale skin, no doubt bruising the tender flesh, leaving possessive patterns of dark blues, deep reds and painful purple hues, tender injuries that were in no way a form of art.

"Well, you two have gotten close," Steven smirked, his voice cold, and darkly teasing. More like taunting, rather then fun and playful. "Besties even!" He shook his head, smiling, his eyes lighting up, and sparkling in boyish joy, making everything the more sinister.

Andrew laughed coldly, and harshly, his laugh sharp enough to cut through a wall of diamonds, as he leaned into Steven's hold gently, "even better, Stevie. They might have a thing for each other!" Steven gladly joined in with his boyfriends dark laughter, the two now laughing as if they were told the funniest joke of their lives (and, they've had long lives).

However, despite all of that, despite Steven and Andrew, Shane and Ryan hadn't stopped looking at each other, eyes soft, full of despair, and worry, their bodies sagging in defeat mixed with failure. They hadn't looked away once, having a silent conversation, conveyed with disappointed frowns, and sad eyes, with the occasional swallow of thick, emotion and saliva.

_I'm so sorry,_ Shane apologised gently, lips pulled down softly and smoothly, and his eyes holding back a fresh set of tears, his eyebrows furrowed together, and pinched up.

Ryan shook his head slightly, slow and soft, he too was frowning, and tried to be reassuring, which he conveyed with his kind eyes, _it's not your fault..._

_I love you,_ Shane's eyes were tender, and compassionate, full of love and adoration, as his shoulders sagged. His face looked down, but he kept looking up with his eyes.

_I love you too,_ Ryan repeated, a sweet, barely there smile, but his eyes were still sad, and glistening with his own tears, ones he wouldn't let fall, no matter what.

Steven's hand moved from Andrew's waist, to his thin, pale wrist, his grip tightening, fingers digging into his skin, squeezing. It would no doubt leave a mutant, mucus green, hideously gross purple bruise. "Let's get this over with," he said - no, correction, he _ordered_ in a snarl, voice serious and deep, almost a quiet mumble. And, Andrew nodded stiffly in tense, and dark agreement, not like there _was_ room for disagreement, or an argument.

Ryan grimaced, hearing Steven's command. He grimly, and disgustedly realised why they were all in this room. Not to brag, but the 'heroes' in this room, tied up and shackled, were few of the best, and some of the top working 'heroes', ones that did well, too well in fact, ones that got too close to the truth. Steven and Andrew were going to kill them, all of them. The two made everyone loose track, going off on small missions that ultimately led to nowhere, that way everything, when it came down to it, was perfect and ready.

Forcefully, Steven made Andrew spin, the spin being rough and uneven, and it looked harsh, and then dipped Andrew - more like dropped him. Andrew gripped, or more appropriately grabbed, or more appropriately, snatched the back of Steven's neck, harshly and tightly, stabbing his blunt nails into the skin, no doubt leaving crescent shapes behind, and yanked him down into a harsh, rough, loveless kiss, lips clashing and fighting against each other, teeth smashing, and clicking together.

A mix of blindingly vibrant canary yellow and too pale purple clashed together, in a spiked, twisted mix, that clashed more then blended, then suddenly, standing in front of the 'heroes', towering over everyone was a man. He was tall, and skinny, with four arms, one set muscular, and the other set was thin. He wore a grey one piece, and grey, loose pants, that stopped at the shins - the clothing separate, not mixed. He pulled out a spear from seeming nowhere, mimicking the action of a cheap, and fake magician pulling out his wand from his sleeve, and he wore a crash helmet on his head, with a hammer-like protrusion in the front of the helmet, shaped like a diamond - weapons not mixed, it was separate. His eyes were dark brown, and his hair in a quiff, the shade a dirty blonde, his skin was a strange tone of both tan and pale patches, as if the man couldn't what skin tone he wanted to have. It was a Fusion, Standrew.

Standrew laughed loudly, "it's _so good_ to see you all!" He greeted, mockingly, his voice deep, and gravely, echoing the room, bouncing off the walls. No, not voice... Not his voice... Steven and Andrew's voices spoke at the same time, overlapping each other, it wasn't just one, mixed together, it was two, and separate.

In saddening horror, Shane and Ryan stared at Standrew, eyes wide in terror, _this is unhealthy..._ They realised in unnerving unison. Ryan felt sick staring at him, _no_ _them_ , he corrected automatically, quietly and quickly. This monstrosity is what everyone saw when he and Brent Fused to become Bryan, an uncontrollable beast, fighting and hungry for power, and filled to the brim with rage. Like, the _Incredible Hulk_ , but with no redeemable factors.

Standrew leaned down, and laughed darkly, a sickening grin etched onto their face, and they looked between Shane and Ryan. Their eyes were dark, glaring into sharp, pointed slits, "hey little men, nice to finally meet you both!" They smirked, their sharp, pointed teeth now bared, sickeningly. He interlaced his fingers together, and stretched them out, cracking his knuckles with loud _snaps_ and _pops_ that echoed the room.

Shane shook his head, eyes wide in horror and panic, "Steven, Andrew, you need to Split, now!" He begged, "your Fusion isn't healthy, and you'll only end up hurting each other!" He tried. And, sure! He doesn't know Unhealthy Fusions like Ryan does, but he knows a healthy one, and Standrew doesn't fit that description!

Laughing again, head thrown back in a deep, scratchy cackle, their laughter mixing, "we're supposed to take this from the guy who's never Fused?!" They yelled in joyful, disbelief.

"He's right though!" Ryan called out, shouting, his eyes wide in terror and fright. "You have to Split, please!" He yelled, repeating what Shane said. He let out a shaky breath filled with worry, "you _know_ that mine and Brent's Fusion was like that! Like you! Split, now!" They may be the villains, and they may be trying to kill all of humanity, but damn it! Nobody deserves to Fuse like this!

Standrew shoved their face into Ryan's personal space, as a sneer pulled at their lips, it was disgusting and ugly, "exactly! It's been nearly eight-thousand years since you last Fused! _You_ don't know what you're talking about!" They scoffed, rolling their eyes.

"Wait, Steven... Maybe he does?" Standrew said, quietly as their eyes softened, using both Steven and Andrew's voices, which clashed together. They pulled back, a frown on their lips.

Standrew glared suddenly, their eyes now sharp, "shut up, Andrew!" They snapped, snarling like an wild, and crazed animal.

Shane looked to Ryan, and his eyes widened in alarm. Ryan stared at the Fusion, his pupils were small, and tiny, the size of the head of a needle, and he was shaking, _Brent and I argued as Bryan... We argued..._ It was like watching a live action horror movie for the man, or relieving a traumatising memory, and in a way he was. It was like a horrifying fever dream, a nightmare.

"Please, Split!" Shane begged, trying to get Standrew to listen, as to calm Ryan down, "please! Or, Ryan and I will make you!" He warned - more like threatened them.

"Oh, yeah?" Standrew asked, mockingly. "What are you gonna do?" They asked, laughing and voices full of fake worry.

Shane looked to Ryan, eyes soft, _Ryan?_ His eyes asked, begging. He kind of just said it on a whim, but with what they were facing, he was unsure of Ryan was in the right frame of mind for this.

Ryan looked back at Shane, eyes still coated in terror. He took a deep breath, and looked down, closing his eyes in seeming defeat and despair. Suddenly, and out of nowhere, Ryan threw his head back, slamming the back of his head into the Pedites Magno's already flat nose, thankful the creature was hunched over. It howled in pain, and let go of Ryan, it's large hands cupping it's nose in pain, and it turned to powder. All to quickly for anyone to react, Ryan leaped forward, and tackled Shane out of the Caprae Homines' grasp, it's nails ripped from pale skin, the wounds bleeding.

Ryan gripped Shane's slightly pudgy, yet still well toned waist, and Shane placed his hands on Ryan's large, broad shoulders. Ryan's hold was gentle and loving, and his fingers, while they gently dug into Shane's skin, were protective, and evened out by the warmth of his palm. Shane, while he couldn't clench his fingers, he gently, and securely pressed the palms of his hands into Ryan's shoulders. Their gaze locked onto each others, their eyes soft and gentle, and they smiled to each other gently, their holds comforting and soft, full of warmth, and reassurance and most importantly, full of love. They rolled out of the way, in a spin, and suddenly, they were engulfed in a bright, light like glow, of black and white that swirled, and twirled, the colours blending together.

In place of Shane and Ryan, once the glow faded, was the Fusion - the man, Shyan. He slowly stood, and clenched his fingers, breaking the bars, then relaxed his fingers, then pulled his hands apart, breaking the chain. Looking at Standrew, Shayn said, "I'd say they'd Fuse, and make you Split." He answered, calmly.

Everyone stared silently. Eugene blinked as if clearing his eyes, Ned shook his head as if to make sure what he was seeing was right, Keith pinched the skin on his leg to check he was awake, Zach smiled in thought, _they Fused! Shyan is real!_ Sara's eyes were blown wide open in surprise, and Marielle's jaw dropped to the floor in shock, both looked rather comical given the situation, but they were genuinely thrown off!

Standrew stared in shock, and in well hidden fear. They tensed up slightly, "what?!" _How did they Fuse? They... They hate each other..._ They thought in shock, "no, that's not..." _Possible,_ they finished silently. "Who are you?" They asked, voice shaking in escaping worry.

_"This is Shyan,"_ he answered, placing his hand over his chest, _"back together."_ All four of his eyes glared up at Standrew, as the Unhealthy Fusion was taller then him. _"And I'm never going down at the hands of the likes of you,"_ he pointed to them with his index finger, _"because I'm so much better."_ He jabbed his thumb to himself, as he kept glaring. _"And every part of me is saying "Go get 'em"."_

Standrew frowned, and glared getting more and more frustrated, they were slowly getting pissed off. They grit their sharp teeth, getting ready for a fight. Anger covering, and drowning their fear.

They walked around the circular room, and Shyan did the same, staying away, yet face to face with Standrew, the two circling each other, like a predator circling it's prey. But, the question that hanged, and lingered in the air above the chained heroes heads was; _Who's the prey? And, who's the predator?_

_"The two of us ain't gonna follow your rules,"_ Shyan said, still circling. Standrew held their spear up, but Shyan just waved a hand dismissively, with a glare, and crouched in a fighting position. _"Come at me without any of your fancy tools!"_ He challenged, and so Standrew cracked their neck, their helmet receding off of the,, like a receding hair line, but more glitch like.

_"Let's go, just me and you."_ Shyan said, and Standrew grinned a sickeningly twisted grin, and ran at Shyan. _"Let's go, just one on two."_ Shyan smirked, looking at them, and waved a hand in front of his face, summoning his visors that covered his eyes, and reflected Standrew who ran at him.

Standrew slammed their fist down at Shyan, who easily, and swiftly dodged by moving back with a carefree smile. Standrew's fist slammed into the ground, creating a small crater, bruising their knuckles, as Shyan quickly, yet smoothly rolled out the way. Shyan smiled, _"go ahead and try to hit me if you're able."_

Jerking, and stabbing their spear forward, Shyan just kept backing up, turning slightly to dodge, relaxed and at ease. _"Can't you see that my relationship is stable?"_ Shyan mocked them, pissing Standrew off more, who kept speeding up, and stabbing, and thrusting more violent. It seemed like a verbal jab, little did they know how honest he was being. Shyan flipped over with one hand, in a back flip, and then landed with one hand on the ground and into a crouch with ease, and precision. One might say the position resembled a _Spider-Man_ pose - almost.

Shyan stood up effortlessly, and moved forward. He placidly kicked his left leg, and easily ducked when Standrew punched with their left fist. He swiftly swiped his leg at their face, and Standrew jerked their spear forward, harshly. _"I can see you hate the way we intermingle."_ Shyan admitted, jumping up with ease and landing on the Fusions burly, (second set), left arm gently, the tried to kick their face, but the Unhealthy Fusion leaned back, and snatched their arm away. Shayn landed on his feet, and held up his index finger, and wagged it side to side, mockingly, as if telling off a child, and his other hand held his chin with his thumb and curled index finger, as if he was thinking. _"But I think you're just mad 'cause you're evil!"_ He called out in fake realisation.

In anger, Standrew moved forward, and stabbed their spear down, and Shyan fell to the floor on his back, the spear didn't stab him. _"You're not gonna stop what we've made together,"_ Shyan said, as Standrew pulled their spear back. Shyan kicked his legs in a circle, resembling the break dance move _Wi_ _ndmill_ , then kicked the spear out of their hands. It twirled in the air, and he then caught it with one hand, _"we are gonna stay like this forever."_ He assured with a smug smirk, and Standrew glared in growing anger, their face quickly turning red. Shyan gripped the long spear in both hands, then snapped it, the weapon shattering into a million tiny shards of splinters, and thick, large, jagged pieces of metal, _"if you break us apart we'll just come back newer."_ He ran his hands up his body, refined and steady, with a grin, but he swayed his hips slightly, and his hip movements were uneven. He ran his hands through his hair, threading the thick locks with his fingers, and then his hands went behind his head. He clenched his hands into fists, and pulled his hands apart at the same time, summoning his red gauntlets, with spiked knuckles, that resembled knuckle brasses. _"And we'll always be twice the men that you are,"_ Shyan said, holding his fists out in a fighting position.

With a glare, Standrew nodded and summoned their helmet. The villain and hero ran at each other with a sneer, and glare, prepared for battle.

_"I am made o-o-o-o-of lo-o-o-o-ove."_

Sara looked to the broken spear, and shuffled forward on his knees the best she could and reached out, ignoring the stabbing, rubbing pain that her metal, tight restraints gave her. She wrapped her tiny, thin fingers around one of the large shards of jagged metal, the sharp, pointed edges dug into her pale, tender skin, and began to turn red with blood. She'd pick the locks on her restraints... Somehow!

_"O-o-o-o-of lo-o-o-o-ove."_

Shyan punched once with his right fist, but Standrew shabbily moved to the left, so Shyan punched them with his other fist. Standrew held their left arms up, taking the punch, and smirked when their skinny set of arms grabbed Shyan's wrist before it hit them. Looking at Shyan with a smirk, they were met by another fist to the face, scratching their protective shield over their eyes. They groaned in shock, and a dull pain.

_"Lo-o-o-o-ove, lo-o-o-o-ove."_

Shyan wretched his other wrist free, and punched at them again, but Standrew gripped his wrist, this time with their upper arm. They threw Shyan over their head like a rag doll, and slammed him into the floor. The floor caved under him slightly, crating another crater, cracking and chipping, and he smirked, _finally, a challenge..._ Shyan thought, rather cockily. But, he had something Steven and Andrew didn't have, love and understanding. Standrew ran at him with a snarl, and glare, arms pushed to their side.

Meanwhile, Sara was now free, and was now picking Marielle's lock, the sharp, jagged piece of metal was now coated in Sara's hot, sticky sweat, and warm, red blood. She caressed her girlfriends cheek, "be quiet, then we'll get The Try Guys outta here."

Marielle grinned, and nodded, watching as Sara began picking, and jiggling the lock, "right." She whispered, as quiet as a mouse. Marielle then looked up in worry at Shyan, her face in a frown, and held back from screaming in shock at the sight.

Shyan's hands were up, and his teeth were clenched together, no doubt grinding his teeth dull. He was holding onto Standrew's hammer-like protrusion, pushing back against the blunt force, his arms straining. The villain kept pushing forward, which in turn, pushed the hero back, his shoes had lost grip, and was painfully slipping against the floor. Suddenly, Shyan crouched letting go, and Standrew still moved forward. Taking the opportunity, Shyan slammed his fist into Standrew's chest, flipping the Fusion over him. The villain flew over Shyan, and into the ceiling of the room, the metal cracking under their force.

Standrew glared, and cracked their neck again, snapping and popping bones, and muscles uncomfortably so, even. Their hammer-like protrusion grew suddenly, and pushed themselves off the off the ceiling, with enough force to take out five, well built, burly men, as orange and red, burning fire, and flames surrounded them, like a meteor entering the Earths atmosphere. They slammed into Shyan, ramming him into a wall, and Shyan held them back best he could.

The metal wall broke, and shattered around the two, leaving a large hole in the wall, as they landed in the room next to the metal, circular room. Large chunks of metal slabs, and brick fell and surrounded him, slamming and spiking into the ground, like dangerous, sharp, rough and uneven knives. Dust slowly fogged up, in small, brown clouds of fluffy, choking debris, and dusty dirt.

Shyan groaned, and knelt in pain, his left hand pressed against the floor. His weapons had gone, and he gripped the floor slightly, as a way to focus, and ignore the searing pain that spread, and branched out in his head, and crawled up his back. He swallowed, and shivered in disgust at the strong, metallic taste that burned his rather dry throat.

_"This is who we are,"_ Shyan said, hand sweaty, and shook. His sleeve of the muscle shirt was torn, and hung off his thumb. He looked up, his visors were cracked at the bottom, and his vest had scrape marks all over it, and his shoulders were covered in dust, and he held a dark, grey toned, brown bruise on his left cheek. _"This is who I am."_

Standrew grinned with a malicious smirk, and they stood taller, their eyes wide in crazed confidence. They stood away from Shyan, but prepared for another attack on the man, who was on his hands and knees, hunched over and weakly shaking, riddled with pain.

  
_"And if you think you can stop me, then you need to think again."_ Shyan mocked, and slowly, he stood up, ignoring the pain. " _'Cause I am a feeling,"_ Shyan explained, with an angry sneer. _"And I will never end,"_ he raised his hands, and clenched his fists, pulling them apart, summoning his spiked gauntlets. _"And I won't let you hurt my planet,"_ Shyan said, standing in a fighting stance. _"And I won't let you hurt my friends."_ Shyan warned, an angry frown on his face, and Standrew smirked at the hero, with a the crazed look in their eyes growing, with sharp teeth on show for all to see. They then ran at the hero at lightening speed, feet thundering against the floor, the dust raising from the force. Shyan glared, and ran at them as well, both meeting halfway, now in perfect view of the heroes, who were in the middle of their escape still.

_"Go ahead,"_ Shyan punched, and Standrew blocked, the fist and hammer collided with a loud _clang_ , scraping the helmet. _"And try to hit me,"_ Standrew slammed their head down, and Shyan raised his arm, blocking. The hammer slammed against the arm of the gauntlet with an echoing _clank_ , denting it slightly. _"If you're able,"_ Shyan challenged, with a grin. He moved around them, and moved back, fist raised to punch them quickly, but he was not quick enough. Standrew slammed their fist into Shyan's face, knuckles cracking against his soft cheek. Red, blood coloured spit flew form Shyan's mouth, and he fell onto the floor in a heap, his long limbs sprawled all over the rubble of metal.

Shyan smirked, as if he finally had a challenge, and he immediately pushed himself back up, _"can't you see that my relationship is stable?"_ He asked with a smile, as there was no way he was staying down. Shane and Ryan weren't like that. They never have been, so he wouldn't be like that. He leaped up, and kicked his left leg, but Standrew dodged to the right. Shyan kicked his right leg, still in the air, and Standrew moved back with ease. He landed on his feet, and jumped up again to get a height advantage on Standrew. _"I know you think I'm not somethin' you're afraid of,"_ he slammed both of his covered fists into the side of Standrew's head, puncturing holes into the helmet, and his glass shield over his eyes smashed into shiny, glistening diamond shards of glass. The glass landed on the floor, sounding like the tiny jingle of bells. They screamed in pain, the force of Shyan's fist shaking their head, and rattled their brain around their head, and bouncing against their skull. Their head flew back in pain, and they gripped their head, fingers digging into the flesh, and Shyan back flipped into a crouch on the floor, and he smirked. _"'Cause you think that you've seen what I'm made of."_

Standrew glared, their teeth clenched together, and hands now in fists, their knuckles turning white as snow in anger. They ran at Shyan, fire and flames surrounding them, and shot at him, but Shyan simply moved to the left slightly, with the ease, and grace of a ballerina, _"but I am even more than the two of them."_ Standrew smashed into the wall behind Shyan, the wall breaking, and falling, then they ran at him again. Shyan ducked, and they flew over his head, _"everything they care about is what I am."_ He said, unimpressed at Standrew's new fighting style they took on. He watched them run, and fly, whizzing around in all random directions around the room to throw him off, fire surrounding them almost, as well as dust. _"I am their fury,"_ Ryan's voice came through, antagonistic and angry. _"I am their patience,"_ Shane's voice came through, soft and soothing. Standrew came at him head on, with an angry, panic-stricken, and frightened look in their eyes at the ease Shane and Ryan had within the Shyan Fusion. Shyan held up his hands, blocking the helmet attack, gripping onto the hammer, and pushing back, keeping Standrew away, the two straining under the pressure. Standrew was shaking, their sharp teeth clenched, and Shyan's arms shook, a smile on his face. He smirked, now back to his normal voice, _"I am a conversation."_

Shyan smirked, _"I am made O-o-o-o-of."_ He threw Standrew over his head with all his force, and back into the large, circular, metal room, through the metal wall. _"Lo-o-o-o-ove o-o-o-o-of. And it's stronger than you."_ Standrew lay on the floor in pain. The wall now held a large hole in it, crumbled and broken, with the hole jagged and spiked, the pieces of the wall now lay everywhere, covering the floor of the prison room. They looked sharp, and piercing, they were all stuck into the floor, ready to stab, and skewer people.

_"Lo-o-o-o-ove o-o-o-o-of, lo-o-o-o-ove."_ Shyan swaggered through the hole in the wall with confidence, and solemnly watched the Unhealthy Fusion. _"And it's stronger than you,"_ Shyan then looked around in worry, and saw the only two left in chains were Ned and Keith. Luckily, nobody was hurt from the slabs of broken wall, besides the Caprae Homines that was hit, and turned to smoke. Marielle and Sara were helping break the locks. Zach and Eugene were looking at each other, checking each other over for injuries.

_"O-o-o-o-of lo-o-o-o-ove, o-o-o-o-of."_ Standrew glowed a hideous, sharp, and clashing mix of canary yellow, and pale purple, and suddenly, they Split with an ear piercing, high pitched, sickening rip, and an echoing bang, feet away from each other. Steven and Andrew lay on the floor on their backs, groaning and shaking, their eyes glazed over, and seemingly confused, and dazed, looking off far away into the distance, they were dizzy, maybe even sick. _"And it's stronger than you."_

_"Lo-o-o-o-ove o-o-o-o-of, lo-o-o-o-ove."_ Keith, Ned, Zach, Eugene, Marielle and Sara all looked up, watching Shyan walk over to the villains.

Shyan grabbed a chain, and tied Steven and Andrew's arms to the side of their bodies, and then their legs together, he set the two down, far away from each other. He looked up, and paused to see his friends staring at him in shock, as if he grew a second head, and it threw him off, _four eyes maybe, but not two heads... Right?_ But, just to make sure, he reached his hand up, and waved his hands around his head, fingers wiggling to make sure there was nothing there, _no second head..._ Shaking his _one_ head, he regained his thoughts, focusing on the matter at hand, "Keith, you need to hack into Steven and Andrew's computer, and Ned, you need to go through their documents. See where they planted the bombs. All I know is that they're placed in high populated areas, and are ready to explode any day now."

Ned and Keith nodded in unison, and tensed up, "right." They said in agreement.

"Are there any others who are working with Steven and Andrew?" Shyan asked, arms crossing as he leaned on one leg in a relaxed, calm stance, looking at the rest of the group.

Marielle stared at Shyan, and then eventually, nodded slightly, "uh, Kristin, Jen... And, Freddie?" She listed, holding up three fingers, and she was unsure of any others.

Shyan nodded, "right, I also know Brent was working with them. I'll go round them all up, and you guys take Steven and Andrew away." He turned on his heel, and walked away, heading out of the circular room.

Zach smiled softly, "nice to meet you, Shyan!" He called, glad to finally meet Shyan, not just over the phone; _He looks amazing!_

Turning around suddenly, Shyan smiled brightly, "nice to meet you too, Zach!" He gave a one swipe wave, and walked out of he room with a bounce in his step.

Eugene looked to Zach with a confused frown, as if to say, _what was that?_

Looking at his boyfriend, Zach shrugged with a poker face, leaning into Eugene's toned arms, "I talked to him before I was taken."

~~~~~

About thirty supposed 'heroes' were found, and captured. A few of them being; Steven, Andrew, Brent, Kristen, Freddie, Jen, Ashly, Gaby and Allison - that's just to name a few people. Apparently, they all felt the same as Steven and Andrew, either that, or were convinced to join the two, doesn't change the fact they joined the two. There's more out there, and the heroes knew who, but they ran away as soon as they heard about Steven and Andrew's failure, so currently, they're in the middle of finding them. Their jobs were far from over with the mission dubbed; _The Fancy Boy's Mission_.

TJ Marchbank stood in front of a long, glass table, surrounded by heroes sat in black, leather, swivel seats and they all had notebooks, and pens out, with coffee mugs, glasses of water, and soda cans. He looked over them; Zach, Eugene, Ned, Ariel, and Keith, and Becky sat on the left of the table. Zach and Eugene were sat next to each other, well, more like on each other, holding hands. Ned sat with Ariel, his arm around her shoulder, and she was leaning into him. Keith sat with Becky, and they held hands, Becky tracing the lines on his hands. Marielle and Sara sat on the left of the table, leaning into each other, and kissing each others cheeks. There was Curly, Quinta, Safiya and Tyler scatter around the table, the last two next to each other though, holding hands.

Looking down in front of him, TJ flipped through the different brown shaded file reports given to him by the heroes, "well done guys." He looked to Marielle and Sara, and then to The Try Guys, "you've finally ended it all."

Zach scoffed, and leaned into Eugene, crossing his thin arms, "we did nothing." He then corrected, reminding TJ, annoyed, "we got captured!"

Eugene nodded, tightening his arms around Zach's thin, and seemingly frail waist, "he's right. It was all Shane and Ryan." He agreed, because of course he did, he'd agreed with whatever Zach says. The guys smitten for his boyfriend, helplessly in love.

"Or, well Shyan, depending on what you want to go with," Sara shrugged with a smile, arms crossed.

TJ nodded, as there was no point in denying it. It was Shane and Ryan, or well, Shyan as well. "Where are they, anyway?" He asked, his eyes sweeping, and scanning over the room, confused. Everyone shrugged, and hummed in confusion, arms crossed over, just as confused, leaning back in their chairs, bouncing in their chairs, messing with their pens, clicking them, twirling them.

Suddenly, Curly smirked cheekily and giddily, jerking his head to the windows showing the hallway, "don't look now, but two little gay boys are running late!"

The heroes turned to the large window wall. Shane and Ryan were running down the hall, their lips were red, and kiss swollen slightly, their hair messy, and looked as if fingers hand been continuously running through the strands, and tugging, with bright red cheeks, and crumpled clothing, as if hands grabbing, and gripping fabric. Slamming the glass doors open, Shane and Ryan stumbled through, panting and out of breath, leaning on each other, their chests heaving.

"Sorry," Shane apologised weakly, chest heaving.

"Yeah, sorry." Ryan panted, hunching over, hands on his knees.

TJ stood there, shaking his head, as the other heroes giggled and laughed behind their hands. "Don't be late again," JT warned, watching as Shane and Ryan slowly moved to the spare seats next to Marielle and Sara. They sat next to each other, taking each others hands, Shane squeezed slightly, rubbing the pad of his thumb over Ryan's knuckles, and Ryan squeezed back, leaning into him happily.

Ned watched the two, and suddenly, realisation hit him as he glanced to Ariel, _fuck, are we like that?!_ He thought in horror, suddenly feeling bad for going on, and on, and on about Ariel.

"Can I have your reports?" TJ asked, arms crossed, leaning back slightly, and seemed casual, watching them as well. He seemed calm, but in reality, he was tired, _another couple... I'm too old for this shit..._

Shane nodded, and slid at least five files across the table, "there's more, but they're still at the hotel in Las Vegas."

"Yeah, we kinda just up and left." Ryan winced, rubbing the back of his neck, and hair, "sorry."

TJ stared at the five files in shock, "there's more?!" He asked, overwhelmed, placing them on the slowly growing precarious stack of files.

"Yeah," Shane said, as if it was obvious. But, it made sense, his boyfriend is Ryan Bergara, the guy is surrounded by case files, so anything less then five was strange to him.

_No, stop thinking about it,_ TJ thought to himself, not wanting to give himself an aneurysm, or turn his brain to mush. He smiled, "right... Well, congratulations on saving the world, and for Fusing, and _finally_ dating!" He congratulated, being genuine, he is happy for them! "I mean, after everything you two have been through, it's great! So, congrats!" He shook his head with a smile, "I thought you two hated each other." He chuckled.

"So did I," Ryan joked, with a smile and seemed carefree. "Turns out, it was bantering," he grinned.

Shane chuckled, and leaned over, as if to kiss Ryan's cheek, "hey, kids bully kids they have crushes on!" He joked, eyes flirty, half lidded. He leaned forward, and rest his chin on the palm of his hand, with a smirk on his lips.

Rolling his eyes, Ryan scoffed, "sure, that's what it was all those years." He looked up suddenly, then frowned, as if unimpressed seeing Shane close to him, "what the hell do you want?"

"A kiss?" Shane asked, innocently, "is that too much to ask?"

Ryan smiled, breaking his unimpressed facade, and leaned over, pecking a kiss to Shane's lips, "there."

Marielle smiled, watching the two silently, and leaned into Sara's, holding onto her hand. She, or well, anyone could tell that Shane and Ryan didn't want to be separated, and she had a theory; they were all going to see Shyan a lot more, and see Shane and Ryan a lot less.

TJ coughed loudly, gaining everyone's attention, Shane and Ryan smiled, barely glancing at him. Rolling his eyes, TJ continued, "we've tracked down the bombs, and I've sent bomb teams, and 'heroes' to the areas to defuse them. They were also manually controlled by Steven's computer, so myself, and Keith have learned how to use it. We're in the process of manually disabling them too." He explained, his hands behind his back, pacing the floor. He slowly began smiling in triumph, "they're either going on trial, or they're being held until we have everyone. No doubt, they'll be sent to Aqua Terra Vincula, and they'll be held their for the rest of their lives." He looked around at everyone, noticing how relieved everyone was at that. These villains were go to an island that is just a prison, with high security, the chances of escape is minimum, the chance of living during the escape is impossible.

TJ smiled gently, his shoulders sagging in relief, "but for now, everyone deserves a break."

Everyone sighed, and relaxed, slumping in their seats. Eugene got up, and helped Zach stand, immediately, Zach leaned into the taller mans side. Happily, Eugene wrapped an arm Zach's waist, pulling him closer. Marielle and Sara stood up, holding hands gently, smiling at each other. Safiya and Tyler leaned into each other, Safiya resting her head onto his shoulder. Curly immediately went to Quinta's side with a grin, watching Shane and Ryan, and she too, watched with a smirk. Ned and Ariel got up, and his arms wrapped around her waist immediately, pulling her close. Becky and Keith stood up too, and he held her close to his side.

Ryan and Shane stood up as well. Shane watched Ryan with soft eyes full of adoration, and he watched him tuck his chair under the table. Ryan went to walk off, but Shane reached out, gently taking the mans tanned wrist, rubbing his thumb over the skin, and Ryan looked to him with a happy, blissful smile, and he titled his head, silently asking him; _What?_

"Spin me?" Shane asked, quietly, and seeming rather shy, "please?"

Ryan smirked, "as if you need to ask." He leaned down, and kissed Shane's lips, then he pressed his lips to Shane's cheek, then his perfectly sloped nose, then his forehead, chin, his other cheek, his ear, his cupids bow teasingly, and repeated the process, speeding up with a grin, happily peppering Shane's face with soft kisses.

Shane giggled, and gently tried to push him away with a smile, feeling a pleasant tingle, Ryan's lips really are like a drug. _The is the good thing about being Split, I can look at Ryan. I can kiss him..._ He thought, with a smile. "Shush, shush..." He giggled, pushing Ryan away pathetically, really allowing him to keep kissing all over his face, his face being tickled as he giggled, "stop, stop... Darlin'!" He laughed, his cheeks a bright, scarlet red, "you're embarrassing me in front of our friends!" He giggled, joyfully.

Everyone had slowly looked away awkwardly at this point. Either coughing, or rubbing the back of their necks, shuffling a foot, kicking the ground, hands in pockets, looking to the wall, the floor, the window, anything but Shane and Ryan. After hearing Shane though, they all glanced over in curiosity.

Ryan picked Shane up, his hands on his waist gently. Shane softly placed his hands on Ryan's shoulders, and squeezed. The two spun, laughing, a bright smile on their lips, gleeful and giddy, eyes soft, and gleaming, in love. A bright light of black and white swirled around them, blending and mixing gently, melding together, and the light raised off the ground.

Their in the air was Shyan, all four eyes closed in joy, and delight, and he laughed happily. His eyes opened, and he landed on the floor with a smile, he looked to his friends, eyes gleaming from either the poorly lit room, but it's more then likely his pure happiness. He waved a hand in front of his face, summoning his visors, and his smiled turned to a grin, holding the frames of his visors, "lets go!"

They cheered, thrusting hands up in the air, and smiled, walking out.

Marielle smiled, and nudged Shyan, "well done." She congratulated softly.

"Congratulations Shyan." Sara smiled, rubbing his back happily.

Zach also grinned, winking at Shyan, and Eugene nodded his head with a smile. The two walked out with Ned and Ariel, who waved at him happily, and with Becky and Keith who laughed, smiling at the him. Curly winked, and Quinta smirked, following The Try Guys. Safiya and Tyler waved at him, smiling and following. TJ shook his head with a smile, and walked out the room.

Shyan smiled, watching his friends walk out, and he wrapped his arms around himself with a smile, holding himself. He closed his eyes gently, taking a deep, calming breath, happily.

_Shane was dipped suddenly, and he gently tightened his grip around Ryan's neck. He smiled softly, looking at him with half-lidded eyes, "I love you... So much, Ryan..."_

_"I love you too." Ryan smiled, holding Shane by his waist securely, eyes soft in adoration. His smile slowly turned shy, and nervous, "hey, Shane?" He didn't pull Shane up, he kept him there._

_"What's up?" Shane asked, a frown on his lips in worry, fearing the worst._

_Ryan frowned in equal amounts of worry, "lets be Shyan together? Spend our lives together, as Shyan?" He offered shyly, full prepared for rejection._ Is it hot in here, or is it me? _Ryan thought, nervously and shaking._

_Shane smiled, and calmed down instantly, "yes, Ryan... Yes!" He pulled Ryan down, and kissed him, and Ryan kissed back, just as passionately, and slow, and steady, their lips melding and mixing together._

Shyan slowly and carefully opened his four eyes, noticing he was now alone in the Meeting Room. He was still smiling, but now more soft, and gentle. He (Shane and Ryan included) has never felt so happy in his entire life, his entire being was made out of love, and he's never felt so whole. Being Shyan... He's made out of an experience and love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Caprae Homines - Latin (google translate) - Goat Men  
> Pedites Magno - Latin (google translate) - Big Foot  
> Aqua - Latin (google translate) - Water  
> Terra - Latin (google translate) - Land  
> Vincula- Latin (google translate) - Jail
> 
> The reason for Andrew's Fusion glow is because of his jacket colour in his Instagram profile as of the date I'm writing this, and as for Steven's, it his background colour in his Instagram profile as of this date. (24th February 2021). Also, I was watching the Sugilite fusion, and dance, and I found myself typing 'little man', which I changed to 'men'... So, now you know!  
> Lyrics and title from the song; Stronger Than You - written by Rebecca Sugar, and sang by Estelle from Steven Universe. Again, this whole song I wanted to use, and I had envisioned before I even began writing this! You'll notice that this fight scene was actually decent, and that's because, I kept referring back to the music video with this song, and basically wrote out what was happening. It's an epic battle, I couldn't help it!
> 
> Here it is! The end! The final chapter! How was it? Was it okay? Did it end okay? Too cheesy? Thank you so much for reading, and for all the support! I had such fun writing this, and developing the world, and I can't lie, I feel proud that I've written this much in such a few short chapters. It means so much for your support, and I'm forever grateful! Thank you! I really don't want to end this, and I'm now just typing to stall time from pressing publish! But, I have too... I hope this had a satisfying ending, and I hope you enjoyed. Hope to see you all on the next thing I write, whatever that may be! See ya around, my dudes!


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